


Strawberries & Cigarettes

by yukiminkim



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Slow Burn, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23089489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukiminkim/pseuds/yukiminkim
Summary: Chapter 10 Summary: Wonwoo’s field trip gets interrupted and a friendly face gives him a ride.Wonwoo led his life with a plan: attend college, graduate, move to Seoul, and become an author. It was simple and it was clean.Mingyu led his life on a whim: wake up, see where the day takes him. It was fun and it was intoxicating.Though both had a perfect way of living, what they didn’t know was life always had a way of balancing itself out.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 50
Kudos: 85





	1. A New Semester

**Author's Note:**

> For my sister Yuko . . .

A slight evening breeze ran through strands of dark hair while fingers grazed the home-button on the black cell phone. The device lit up showing the basic manufacturer’s wallpaper on the screen with black numbers reading  _ “6:27”.  _ Jeon Wonwoo, a sophomore attending Kyungnam University, was running late to his Department Class Orientation. 

With the end of summer break, signaled by the beginning of a new school year, every department at Kyungnam University held an annual orientation event that welcomed new students and gave them a chance to meet others in the same major. 

Normally, upperclassmen wouldn’t have to attend this orientation, as traditionally it was catered towards freshmen, but to Wonwoo’s dismay, Yoon Jeonghan, a senior in his major, was the president of the department this year. The senior decided early on that he was going to change tradition and open the event to every Lit student who “wanted” to attend, despite their class standing. And because it was Jeonghan, that meant  _ everyone  _ who was majoring in Literature Arts was  _ required  _ to attend this social event (it wasn’t an optional thing). 

Sighing, Wonwoo picked up his pace to a light jog, clutching onto the straps of a black backpack that carried only the essentials; wallet, keys and a book in case he got bored. Curling his cold fingers around the straps tighter he headed towards the short brick building that housed the Literature Arts department. As he got closer, he could hear faint music and laughter. Half of him, his antisocial half, wanted to text Jeonghan and tell him he was sick and catch the bus back home to his bed and his books. The other half, his lazy half, didn’t want to deal with the senior’s nagging tomorrow morning, which Wonwoo was undoubtedly sure his senior would seek him out and interrogate him thoroughly. It was the later half that made him adjust his round wire-framed glasses with a sigh and trudge forward towards the noisy building. 

Upon entering the building, a girl,  _ ‘Minna’ _ the name tag reads, sits behind a cloth covered table. 

“Hi there! Welcome to the Literature Art’s Department Class Orientation! Are you ready to make unforgettable memories?”

Hearing the obviously scripted words, Wonwoo scanned the bright, yet forced, smile plastered on the girl’s face. While she seemed to be smiling, her eyes reflected otherwise, screaming  _ ‘Help me!’ _

Wonwoo cringed at the poor girl. No doubt she probably lost some bet to Jeonghan and is now sitting here regretting ever agreeing to the bet she made. 

“Yeah. Hi.” 

“If you give me your name, I can get you your name tag! We don’t want you missing all that fun going on now do we?” Minna tilted her head continuing her scripted speech. Her creepy smile was still plastered to her face, dark brown eyes meeting Wonwoo’s equally dark ones. 

The sophomore shifted uncomfortably, tugging the sleeves of the gray sweater he wore down a bit. He wasn’t sure whether to answer both questions or not. He definitely wouldn’t mind “missing all the fun going on” and by the looks of it, Minna wouldn’t either. Sighing lightly, Wonwoo opted to forego answering the second question, giving just his name instead. 

“Uh . . . Jeon Wonwoo.”

Minna nodded and started flipping through a box of sticker name tags. Just as she was handing Wonwoo his name tag, a figure approached the table.

“Ah! Wonwoo! Get in here!” Hong Jisoo, a senior and the vice-president of the department, rushed towards the younger, pulling him by his wrist towards two open doors behind the front desk. 

Wonwoo stumbled on his feet, grabbing his name tag out of Minna’s hand while avoiding the girl’s smile that was going to haunt his dreams for the rest of the week. 

Jisoo dragged him into the huge room that was usually used as a common study hall for the literature art majors. What was usually an empty room with a few students sprinkled around here and there studying or catching up on overdue essays, is now filled with students that planned on graduating with a literature degree. 

Wonwoo saw a few familiar faces that he recognized from the previous year; faces of people he shared prior classes with, but none he was comfortable enough to strike up a conversation with. 

Jisoo was still dragging him further into the room where they passed two long tables pushed together to create a snack station. Across the room, was an empty area with a podium and a stand-up screen creating a makeshift stage. They headed towards Jeonghan who was talking to, what Wonwoo was assuming, a freshman as he had never seen his face before. But then again, Wonwoo doesn’t really  _ hang out _ with any of his classmates.

“Look who finally decided to show up.” Jeonghan’s attention turned towards the two who interrupted his conversation with the freshman.

Jisoo and Jeonghan were the exception to Wonwoo’s lack of relations with his classmates. He wouldn’t say they were his  _ friends  _ as he wouldn’t seek them out to go drinking or send them birthday texts, but a brief greeting in the halls when they passed each other definitely counted them as acquaintances. 

The two upperclassmen were inseparable and were renowned for playing tricks and condoning each other's bad habits. They were also known for always getting their way, not just in the department, but around the  _ whole  _ school. With the way the two seniors looked, there was barely anyone that could reject any direct request the president and vice president asked. Jisoo had doe-like eyes that peeked out behind his brown, caramel dyed fringe that fell perfectly on his forehead. He loved to wear stylish, loose cardigans accompanied with simple tops and dark jeans. Jeonghan, on the other hand, looked very ethereal. His hair was dyed a light red-brown this year, a bet he made with Jisoo, and instead of letting it hang in front of his face like the other, he had it parted ¾ of the way on his forehead with one half hanging just past his eyebrow while the other half was gelled out of the way. He always wore loose shirts and tight pants and adorned some type of collar or necklace. In other words, he knew how to flaunt what he had. Wonwoo assumed it was due to their angelic looks mixed with their mischievous behavior, that they had everyone wrapped around their fingers. 

“Thought I was gonna get a text saying you were sick so you could skip out.” Jeonghan poked Wonwoo’s chest accusingly. 

“Yeah, I was thinking about it but I didn’t want to deal with your nagging tomorrow.” He answered boredly. 

Jisoo slapped Wonwoo on the shoulder, laughing behind his hand that was raised to his mouth. Ignoring the slight pout on Jeonghan’s face and reaching up to slightly rub the spot that Jisoo hit with his fingertips that peeked out of his sweater sleeves, Wonwoo looked over to the freshman who was standing there watching the interaction with a small smile on his face which made the sophomore feel a bit awkward. 

Following Wonwoo’s gaze, Jeonghan upturned his lips in a small smile, seeming to let go of the younger’s comment. 

“This is one of our cute freshman, Lee Seokmin.” Jeonghan waved his hand in the direction of the freshman, his other hand rested on his hip, “You would know if you came on time and didn’t miss introductions.”

Wonwoo doubted that. He probably wouldn’t be listening to forty or fifty students introduce themselves in one sitting. To be honest, he was relieved he missed introductions as he would probably stress out about his “One Fun Fact” Jeonghan doubtlessly made them all share. 

The freshman offered his hand out and Wonwoo shook it with a tight smile. Wonwoo hoped he wouldn’t have to talk to this boy after this orientation because he just forgot the freshman’s name while thinking about how awkward the introductions that took place before he arrived would have been for him. 

“And this is where you introduce yourself.” 

Jeonghan’s words snapped him out of his thoughts realizing he was shaking the poor kid’s hand for an awkwardly long time. Yanking his hand back, Wonwoo cleared his throat.

“Jeon Wonwoo. Sophomore. Nice to meet you.” 

“Ah! Wonwoo-hyung! Nice to meet you! I’m glad I’m meeting more upperclassmen!” The younger had a very contagious smile. His eyes crinkled up into half moons and his smile displayed all of his perfectly white teeth.

“Yeah. Let me know if you have any questions.” Wonwoo really hoped the other didn’t ask any questions but he wasn’t going to act like an ass to the kid whose name he can’t even remember. . . 

“Really? Thank you Wonwoo-hyung!” 

. . . and who already seemed to remember Wonwoo’s name. Wow, he felt like a shitty upperclassmen.

Jisoo reached over to a nearby table and handed Wonwoo a folder with the school’s logo pressed into the cover. 

“Since you missed introductions.” He patted Wonwoo’s shoulder and strolled off towards the snack table. 

“You better read it through. Jisoo and I have a lot of fun activities planned so you’re welcome.” 

Jeonghan started dragging the freshman off to meet other upperclassmen until he looked back, “And you better stay the whole night Jeon Wonwoo. Mingle and don’t be such a stiff.” 

With a wink Jeonghan started off again explaining something to the younger boy who followed him attentively. 

Sighing, Wonwoo opened the folder flipping through different colored papers neatly tucked away in the right pocket. A few key papers he saw were a map of the school, a map of the Literature Arts Building, and a contact sheet where you could write your classmates names and phone numbers. Jeonghan’s and Jisoo’s information were already filled out on the first two lines. Wonwoo snorted at the ridiculous idea of going around and asking complete strangers to fill out the pink sheet when one could just add their information straight into their phone. Or even the fact that one would  _ want  _ to get other people’s contact information. 

He gazed over at the left pocket that had just one green paper tucked away. It had a list with dates and events. One in particular stood out to him. 

_ Friday, July 22: Kim Publishing Corporation (KPC) Tour.  _

_ Location: KPC Building _

_Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm_

Wonwoo let a small smile slip past his lips and he felt himself getting excited for the first time since he got here. Being an author has always been the end goal. Books have always made Wonwoo happy. Just everything about them from the creak of the spine to the smell of the pages and the stories within that lead him to another world where he could escape reality. Touring one of the biggest publishing houses in Korea was definitely something Wonwoo could look forward to. 

The rest of the night was a whole entire headache for Wonwoo. Bonding games, trust games, scavenger hunts, and to his surprise, drinking. He remembered that everyone had nametags so at least he didn’t forget anyone’s name like when he first met Seokmin; that at least made him look like a somewhat sociable person. The night ended with his team losing every game they played.Then again, when you’re playing against Jeonghan and Jisoo’s team there isn’t any chance for winning anyways. 

As the event was finally brought to an end with closing speeches by both Jeonghan and Jisoo, Wonwoo took out his phone that was forgotten in his backpack and saw two missed calls from his mom and dad and one missed call from his younger brother. He read the time:

_ “8:17pm” _

Dammit. The event was only supposed to run until 7:30pm. Wonwoo unlocked his phone to listen to the voicemail his father left, a cold, stoic voice reaching his ears as the message played.

_ “Wonwoo. Your brother just called me from the police station. Me and your mother can’t get off until 8:30. Your mother is worried that you aren’t answering your phone. Where are you? Call her when you get this message.”  _

Shit. 


	2. The Police Station

With the orientation events from that evening becoming a fleeting thought, Wonwoo threw his phone back in his bag and raced to the bus stop. He could already hear his father yelling at him for “neglecting his responsibilities” and for making life harder by not “helping around the house”. The Jeon family was a very traditional household. Every member of the family had a designated responsibility and as the oldest, Wonwoo found himself with higher expectations from both his parents, a main reason he didn’t apply for colleges outside of Changwon. He was expected to pick up the responsibilities inside the home while his parents worked. 

Wonwoo boarded the bus with a polite nod to the driver and took a seat in the back. Looking out the window, he ran his fingers through his slightly disheveled hair with a sigh. Majority of his parent’s expectations revolved around taking care of his younger brother. Wonwoo thought that once the other entered his junior year of high school, he would shape up. But apparently maturity still hasn’t hit his younger brother. 

Once the bus reached his stop, Wonwoo slung his backpack over one shoulder and quickly made his way to the station. It was a small one that handled petty disturbances in the neighborhood. But still, it was a police station. Had this been Bohyuk’s first time getting “taken in” his parents would have given him hell for not being home on time. Luckily this wasn’t his brother’s first time, and Wonwoo racing into the familiar station wasn’t as big a deal as the first. Which was . . . pretty sad. 

_ “8:52”  _

Turning the corner from the hallway that led to the station’s main office space, Wonwoo saw his younger brother sitting across a short, overweight officer who looked more tired than anything else. Bohyuk’s face had two bruises starting to form; one by his split lip, and the other around his eye. His clothes were dirtied and his white shirt that sat beneath a grey jacket had blood specks across the collar. 

Sighing Wonwoo walked toward the officer’s desk, “Bohyuk. Are you fucking serious?” Letting his bag slide off his shoulder and land beside the younger Jeon, Wonwoo eyed the other with annoyance. 

His younger brother looked up to meet Wonwoo’s eyes only to grunt and focus back on glaring at nothing in particular. 

“Who’re you?” The officer mumbled out to the young college boy, eyeing Wonwoo with a grumpy expression. 

Wonwoo directed his gaze to the officer, growing disgusted as he saw that the man had ketchup stains on his shirt as well as around his mouth, “I’m his older brother.” 

“Mnn.” The officer straightened himself out and shifted in his seat directing his attention to his computer. “You legal age?”

“You mean am I old enough to sign this brat out of your station? Yeah. I am.” Wonwoo glared between his brother and the fat pig sitting behind the desk who started laughing. 

“Birthday?” The officer sucked his teeth using his pinky to dig some leftover food out from between his top teeth to which Wonwoo rolled his eyes in disgust. 

“July 17, 1996.” 

The officer’s sausage like fingers punched in the numbers to his computer stopping halfway as if he had just realized something, “Must be pretty shitty having to bail your useless brother outta jail on your birthday. Huh, kid?”

Wonwoo looked at the calendar on the messy desk.  _ July 17.  _ His eyes went to his brother who had a faint guilty look on his face but it disappeared when he noticed Wonwoo’s gaze. The older brother looked back at the officer ignoring the obese man’s jab. “Do you need to see some type of ID?” 

“Nope. Just need-” The officer was cut short by a loud woman’s cry that sounded from the hallway.

“Bohyuk!” 

Wonwoo turned around to see his mother and father rushing towards them from the hallway. His mother went straight towards his younger brother, cupping the boy’s cheeks, quickly inspecting his bruised face.

“What happened?” His mother didn’t let his brother answer and instead directed her accusations towards the officer, “Who did this? Where is the other kid that did this to my baby? Did you arrest him too or just my son?” 

His mother could be frantic when it came to Bohyuk. Wonwoo didn’t know why since all he does is get into fights and skips class but he guesses it’s because Bohyuk is her “ _ baby”  _ or whatever. 

“Ma'am please calm down. First of all your son isn’t under arrest. We just took him into our station for causing a ruckus on public grounds. Second of all, there were three other boys here that we took in but their guardians already came to pick them up a while ago. So we are not just targeting your son.” 

The officer had the emotional range of a carrot and could care less about his mother’s accusations. It’s obvious he has had to deal with people like his mother in his line of work and Wonwoo could tell he was probably reiterating some textbook answer. 

A low and commanding voice spoke, interrupting the rambling of the police officer behind the desk, “What time did you take our son in?” It was Wonwoo’s father, this time. The older man’s gaze bore into the officer, as he straightened his shoulders, holding himself to full height. 

The officer checked the clock then flipped the folder on his desk open reading something on the report, “He was written up at 7:38pm.” 

Wonwoo slouched where he stood feeling a headache come on. If he wasn’t blamed for not having Bohyuk signed out already then he definitely would be blamed for letting his brother sit in the station for an “unimaginable” amount of time. 

“My baby has been sitting here for over an hour and a half?!” She looked at the officer in disbelief then her attention turned toward Wonwoo who kept his gaze anywhere but her. “7:38 Wonwoo.” She reiterated, “What the hell were you doing for almost two hours? You said your school thing ended at seven so where the  _ hell  _ were you? It’s past nine already! Were you just going to let your brother rot here for the night?” 

Wonwoo snorted, “Course not. Couldn’t let anything bad happen to your  _ baby. _ ” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. He knew his flippant answer would get him another earful from both parents, but having to deal with his whole family in a police station of all places was already too much to handle. He didn’t have the energy to filter what he said. 

“I will deal with your brother later. I am asking you a question so don’t you  _ dare _ give me lip.” His mother pointed a finger at her older son; her eyes stone cold. 

Wonwoo sighed, “The orientation ran later than planned.” He shrugged it off, well aware of his nonchalant attitude and how it would upset both parents. 

“Were you planning on informing us or were you just going to waltz back home whenever you felt like it ignoring all of your responsibilities.” His father finally addressed Wonwoo’s presence after inspecting his youngest son’s face. 

Wonwoo shrugged again, “Were you guys gonna get off work early if I did inform you?” 

He watched his parent’s face grow angry at his remark. But still, it’s not like they could say anything because everyone in the Jeon family knew the answer to his question. Work… responsibilities were prioritized over everything else for the two older Jeons. 

“You-” Wonwoo’s mother made an attempt to discipline her son when the officer cleared his throat reminding her where they were. 

“Sir, Ma’am, we just need a signature from a legal guardian and then you can be on your way.” 

His father inhaled deeply, eyes reflecting a coldness that most found intimidating. The older man took several strides to the desk and grabbed the file the officer held out towards him. 

Wonwoo rolled his eyes grabbing his backpack off the ground where he dropped it previously. He started out towards the door when his mother grabbed his arm. Her face was calmer this time and just looked tired. She took a steady breath calming herself down, “Where are you going Wonwoo?” 

“Leave him.” His father didn’t look up from the file he was currently signing. 

If Wonwoo had any thoughts of staying with his mother’s slight concern for him, it all went out the door when his father acted as if  _ Wonwoo _ was the one that fucked up and got into a fight. 

With that, Wonwoo shrugged his mother’s hand off and stalked off towards the exit of the station.

The fresh summer air was nice in his lungs. It was a normal summer breeze but still a little cold for Wonwoo who was thin framed by nature and thus got cold very easily. Pulling his long sleeves over his hands and crumpling them into fists, he made his way towards the bus stop. 

The bus stop was only a 10 minute walk from the station, and that’s with Wonwoo trudging slowly down the pavement. Busses ran slower at this time of the night so he wasn't in a rush.

Sitting at the barren bus stop almost made him wish he didn’t lip off to his parents. Almost. His pride would only allow him to give it another few seconds of regret until he was angry again. It was at times like this that he could tell he was his father’s son. Not that that was something he was necessarily excited about. 

“Got a light?” A low voice sounded from above him, interrupting his thoughts and dissipating the anger that had started to seethe from recollection of what happened not 20 minutes prior. It was only after the other spoke that Wonwoo noticed a man was standing near him leaning against the glass frame that encompassed the bus stop. His eyes flicked up towards the stranger then towards the seat next to him to make sure the guy wasn't talking to someone else and Wonwoo would end up in an awkward situation. 

His brain told him to ignore the guy in hopes the stranger would take the hint and go away. But his body was on autopilot and before he could process his thoughts he found his eyes locked on the other’s brown eyes that seemed to twinkle with the reflection of the street lights. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading . . . I hope this chapter wasn't too short. I wonder who is as the bus station? ^_^ Follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/rosequartstudy) and check out other works there too!


	3. A Stranger

“What?” It wasn’t as if he didn’t hear him, but Wonwoo had this habit of asking ‘What” when he didn’t know how to respond and was buying himself time to process the question. Plus, the presence of the stranger caught him off guard and after everything that happened tonight, from the orientation to the incident at the police station, Wonwoo wasn't in a socializing mood. He dealt with enough people for today.

Instead of repeating his question, the stranger held out a cigarette and cocked an eyebrow as a nonverbal way of reasking. Wonwoo watched as the other brought the rolled paper to his lips. 

“Oh. Um.” Wonwoo shook his head still staring blankly at the man standing above him, “ No, I don’t. Sorry.” 

“Damn. That’s okay.” 

Wonwoo took out his phone to pretend he was busy doing…something. He watched the other out of the corner of his eyes hoping he would go away and get the hint. 

Through his peripheral he could see the stranger looking around. Luckily, the man started off towards the convenience store near the bus stop. 

Feeling more relaxed with the guy gone, Wonwoo leaned his head back on the glass panel behind him. The night breeze hit him again and he pulled his backpack that sat on his lap closer to him to acquire some type of heat into his body. He checked his phone for the time. 

_ “9:45pm”  _

The last bus usually comes at 11:00pm, which means the next bus Wonwoo will be able to take will be coming around 10:30pm. 

Sighing he locked his phone again, shoving it into the front pocket of his backpack. He purposefully thought about his classes tomorrow. What time he needed to wake up, what he was planning to wear, how he needed to do laundry tonight. He made sure  _ not  _ to think about the earlier events that took place otherwise he would start to get irritated again and he was too tired to deal with such intense emotions like that.

“Uh...ahem.” 

Wonwoo tore his eyes away from the gum on the sidewalk he had been staring at for the past few minutes looking up to the same man that had just left him not five minutes ago. 

The familiar intruder huffed out an awkward laugh and shoved his left hand in his pocket while his right reached up to his face to scratch his nose almost nervously, “Could you lend me some money?” 

Before Wonwoo could react or answer in any way, the stranger continued quickly, “For a lighter. I forgot my wallet in my gym bag. And my car is in the shop...with my gym bag.” 

Wonwoo blinked at him for a while, processing what he was saying. 

“I don’t have cash.” It was a blank statement that should have ended the conversation. It was obvious the stranger also understood the indication as his hopeful eyes seemed to dim and he slouched slightly nodding his head in understanding.

“But I have my card.” That wasn’t supposed to come out. It was supposed to end with him rejecting the other and ignoring him again until the stranger left. His body on autopilot was quite dangerous. 

The other man’s face grew brighter. He gave a closed lip smile and slapped both his palms together holding them up in front of his face as he slightly bowed, “I would be forever indebted to you.” 

He watched Wonwoo through fluttered eyelashes as he continued to smile at the boy sitting at the bus stop. His hands were still placed up by his lips and only until Wonwoo grabbed his backpack off his lap and stood up did he move his hands down to shove them into his pockets. 

Wonwoo wasn’t too sure  _ why  _ he decided to go out of his way to help this guy acquire a lighter and condone his smoking behavior. Maybe it was because he dug himself a hole by mentioning he had a card. Maybe it was because he saw the way the other tried to hide the tremor in his hands from the lack of nicotine in his system. Maybe it was because Wonwoo had nothing better to do and he was bored. All options seemed plausible to him but there was still this nagging feeling in him that said all those options still wasn’t enough reason for Wonwoo to  _ walk all the way  _ over to the convenience store, pull out his wallet to  _ buy  _ some random guy a light so he can smoke a pack.

Yet here he was standing at the cash register counter while the stranger made his way through the aisles of the store. Watching the man move through the thin spaces between the shelves felt like he was watching a bear move through a maze with walls made of Jenga pieces. With every turn, the poor guy was hitting something off the opposite shelf and if not that, he was knocking an item down while trying to grab another. The guy was big. He had broad shoulders and was much taller than Wonwoo first gaged. Wonwoo could tell he worked out by how his fitted shirt stretched across his chest and stomach area showing subtle bumps and curves where muscle would be. He wore a distressed leather jacket so Wonwoo couldn’t see his arms but if he was going by what the rest of the stranger looked like, they were probably nice arms too. 

As the taller man emerged from the aisle, Wonwoo could see he had a couple of strawberry milk bottles, some type of cream filled pastry, as well as what looked like a piece of cake packaged in a plastic container. He found himself watching as the man made his way over to the counter with an excited smile plastered on his face. 

He stared at the array of snacks and the plastic green lighter the other dumped on the counter as the cashier began scanning all the items. Wonwoo unzipped his backpack and grabbed his wallet out leaving his bag open so he could throw his wallet back in when he was done. Since his bag was left open, Wonwoo pulled it off the now crowded counter holding it by the strap at the top so nothing would fall out of the open flap. Wonwoo went to lower his bag onto the ground until he stopped mid way deciding it was probably best to hold it instead of putting it on the dirty floor.

“Your total is ₩14,000.” 

He was then faced with the problem of both his hands being occupied with his wallet and his bag. He could feel the eyes of the waiting cashier. Wonwoo looked down at the dirty floor then at the cramped counter deciding where to place his stupid backpack that was starting to cause him unnecessary stress. 

“Here.” The stranger, as if reading Wonwoo’s thoughts and slight panic, grabbed the backpack out of his hand leaving Wonwoo free to pull his card out of the wallet to hand to the cashier who waited patiently. 

As Wonwoo waited for the receipt to print, the taller man grabbed his bagged goodies and walked towards the automatic doors leading outside into the fresh summer night. 

Shoving his wallet into his back pocket and walking out, Wonwoo wasn’t surprised to see the stranger sitting on a picnic table that belonged to the convenience store. He didn’t have any proof to trust this guy. Yet, without a second thought, Wonwoo had just let him walk out of the store with his backpack and all his belongings. The fact that he wasn’t surprised about the stranger’s behavior was the part that bewildered him the most, as if he knew this guy and they were long time friends.

He walked towards the table while watching the man light his cigarette with the new lighter Wonwoo bought him along with the snacks that sat in the plastic bag on the table. Wonwoo threw his leg over the connected bench across the other, making the table shake with how uneven the ground was underneath. 

The stranger inhaled his cigarette feeling the nicotine start to flow through his whole body. Wonwoo watched as the man exhaled; his hands settling as if having the small bud between his fingers gave him a sense of stability. 

This was weird. It was only then that this whole situation dawned on Wonwoo and how strange this all was. First, the fact that he even gave this random stranger the time of day and not flat out ignore him like he would do for most of his classmates, was super generous of Wonwoo. Then, the fact that he went and bought all that crap for the guy very well knowing that there was no way he was getting his money back, was way out of character for him. And finally, here he is sitting with this man, who Wonwoo has done more for than a lot of other people he knew much longer, whose name he doesn’t even know. 

“Mingyu.” 

Wonwoo looked up from staring at his hands that were fussing with the hems of his sleeves to meet the other’s gaze. 

“I realized you don’t know my name. Kim Mingyu.” 

Wonwoo tried not to stare too long at the other who he was sure could read minds or just had impeccable timing. Either way, it wasn’t helping this weird situation Wonwoo is making it out to be. 

“I’ll be sure to pay you back…” Kim Mingyu seemed like he was going to say something more but instead he let his sentence falter down. Wonwoo waited.

“This is where you give me your name.” 

Wonwoo frowned confused as to why cutting the other off to rudely introduce himself was the right time, “Oh. Uh-“

Mingyu took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled a breathy laugh at the other.

“I said, ‘I’ll be sure to pay you back’ and then I got quiet giving you the cue to give me your name so I could continue by addressing you properly.” A sly smirk started playing on Mingyu’s face as he assessed the man across him. 

“Didn’t think I had to explain that one.” He finished. He talked mockingly slow while wearing that playful smile. Wonwoo rolled his eyes, getting rather irritated at this man’s playful nature. 

“Well how the hell was I supposed to know that? I thought you just needed more time so all three braincells of yours could work hard at forming a complete sentence.” It wasn’t snappy but more bored and mumbled out like all of his  _ ‘comments’ _ his mom likes to call them. Still, it was a bad habit of his. Always having a sarcastic comment when he was irritated. It’s what got him and his dad into most of their fights. That and his flippant attitude towards his parents and really, life in general. 

Instead of getting offended like most people do, Mingyu let out a laugh nodding his head in understanding as if Wonwoo didn’t just insult his intelligence, “Do you only talk when you get angry?” 

It was an innocent question; one that seemed more rhetorical than anything else. Yet Wonwoo could see the subtle playfulness behind the other’s eyes. 

As expected, Mingyu wasn’t bothered by a lack of answers from Wonwoo. Instead he started unpacking the array of snacks from the plastic bag. Wonwoo watched him this time. Now that he actually looked at the man, Wonwoo could tell he was probably around his own age. He was a gigantic guy, but his face looked young and he had one of those faces that could be kind and approachable yet cool and masculine all at one time. One of those faces where if he were to ask a random stranger to go out of their way to buy him a lighter and snacks, the stranger would willinging do so. In other words, this Mingyu guy probably got away with  _ a lot _ .

“So?” 

Snapping out of his thoughts at the other’s short question, Wonwoo’s judgmental gaze met Mingyu’s curious one, “What?” 

“Your name. What is it?” Mingyu inhaled on his cigarette one last time before dropping it down on the concrete only to extinguish it into the pavement with the ball of his foot. He looked back up at Wonwoo waiting for his answer. 

“Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo.” Out of habit, Wonwoo gave a curt bow towards the other across the table. It was a weird situation for Wonwoo. Usually one would bow when they first introduce themselves. Yet, he knew Mingyu for about half an hour now, maybe not his name, but he had some sort of weird acquaintanceship with the other so was it necessary to bow? Mingyu didn’t bow when he gave his name. This was weird. 

Fortunately, Mingyu didn’t seem to sense Wonwoo’s internal social interaction induced panic attack and instead he acceptingly nodded at the other’s answer and started opening his strawberry milk along with the pastry. 

This was definitely weird and awkward. And when things get weird and awkward, that’s when Wonwoo leaves before anything can get worse. Wonwoo made to bid the other goodbye when he realized he didn’t have his backpack. He looked over to Mingyu’s side of the picnic table, and next to him was his bag lying on the bench. Wonwoo looked from his backpack to Mingyu who was now chugging the whole strawberry milk in one gulp. When he was finished, the bottle was crumpled up with one squeeze from the man and tossed onto the table. 

“So, Jeon Wonwoo. Are you always this awkward meeting new people?” Mingyu started on his pastry this time ripping the bread in half to reveal it’s cream filling. Strawberry. 

Wonwoo should have been insulted, but he was starting to learn that this man didn’t say anything with malice, it was just out of pure curiosity. He felt a small smile make its way onto his face, “Pretty much.” 

Mingyu laughed at this. His head flew back as he held both halves of his pastry in either hand. His wide smile revealed two perfectly pointed canines. His teeth weren’t perfectly straight, yet somehow it worked with his perfect . . . everything else. Mingyu shoved a whole half of the bread into his mouth, his cheeks puffing out like a squirrel’s to accommodate space for all the pastry. 

“What’s with the strawberry flavored snacks?” 

Mingyu finished chewing the first half in record time and looked down at the other half as if contemplating the question, “It’s the best flavor.” 

With that he shoved the other half into his mouth content with his answer. Wonwoo scoffed at that. He looked down to the plastic wrapper from the pastry he was unconsciously playing with. He then watched as Mingyu finished the other half even faster than the first and started fishing for his pack of cigarettes in his leather jacket. 

“It doesn’t really match your style does it?” 

Mingyu busied himself with lighting his second cigarette blocking the wind with his right hand while his left hand flicked the lighter aflame. When the end of the roll lit up, Mingyu took a long drag while shoving the lighter back into his pocket. Wonwoo was almost convinced the other didn’t hear his statement until Mingyu locked his eyes with Wonwoo’s, “What flavor matches my style then?” 

A small smile played across Mingyu’s face as Wonwoo shrugged leaving the wrapper on the table to instead play with the hem of his sleeves. A nervous habit of his. Something that Mingyu seemed to notice as his eyes gazed down at the other’s hands. 

“Maybe . . . chocolate.” 

“Why would chocolate match my style?” 

Wonwoo sighed exasperated that he had to explain something he wasn’t really sure himself. He wanted to drop this ridiculous conversation, “I don’t know. It just does.” 

Mingyu seemed to contemplate his answer as if Wonwoo made such thought provoking points to his argument, “I like chocolate covered strawberries and strawberry filled chocolates. Does that count?” 

Wonwoo stared at Mingyu for a beat. It finally caught up to him just  _ how _ ridiculous this conversation was. He let out a breathy laugh at first then felt himself really start to let out a genuine burst of laughter. It wasn’t loud and obnoxious like Mingyu’s, but more subtle with small chuckles he let out now and then. His eyes were focused on his hands that were still busy playing with the hems of his sleeves when he realized Mingyu wasn’t making any noise. Looking up, Wonwoo was met with Mingyu’s eyes. Instead of the normal playful gaze Wonwoo had grown accustomed to in the short while, Mingyu’s were different this time. It was something Wonwoo didn’t recognize and they seemed to bore into him the more he kept his gaze. Mingyu’s cigarette hung from his lips as he stared at Wonwoo. Staring at someone this long is awkward; As Wonwoo willed himself to stop, a light behind him illuminated Mingyu’s face making it that much harder to look away. 

Tearing his eyes off Mingyu to look behind him he saw a bus approaching. He looked back towards Mingyu who had already stood up and was collecting his trash from the table. Wonwoo stood as well grabbing the second strawberry milk and cake Mingyu bought, well, picked. All the trash fit in one hand of Mingyu’s while the other hand went up to pull the cigarette out of his lips to exhale. He looked down at the items in Wonwoo’s hands and smiled, “Keep those.” 

Wonwoo frowned slightly looking down at the milk and cake, “I don’t eat cake.” 

Mingyu only laughed at that taking another long drag of his cigarette, “Who doesn’t eat cake on their birthday?” 

Wonwoo looked down at the cake, taking a while to process that today  _ was _ his birthday and that there was  _ no way _ Mingyu should know that. Wonwoo looked back up only to see Mingyu had started off in the other direction of the bus stop slowing down to throw away his trash in a bin and stalking off again. 

Wonwoo saw the street in front of him start to illuminate brighter which snapped him back into reality. He reached over to the other side of the table and grabbed his backpack that once sat by Mingyu’s side. 

The bus squeaked as it came to an abrupt stop in front of the glass covered bus stop. The hissing sounded through the bare streets as the bus lowered itself so passengers could get on and off easier. The bus driver watched as a young college student quickly made his way over to the vehicle from a nearby convenience store. He waited as he knew these kids from university were probably studying late and catching the night bus to get home. He admired that. 

“Sorry. Thank you.” 

The bus driver smiled warmly, “It’s quite alright son.” 

Wonwoo smiled politely at the driver as he found a seat in the back of the bus. He plopped himself down as he felt the inertia of the bus moving forward pull him back. He threw his bag across his lap when he noticed there was something stuck to the front pocket. It was ripped from the strawberry milk wrapper. There was something written on it. 

_ Kim Mingyu  _

_ 02-356-8976  _

_ I’ll pay you back!  _

_ Happy Birthday!  _

Wonwoo looked over at the milk and cake he threw on the other seat next to him. His eyes went back to the sticker on his backpack. 

_ Happy Birthday! _

He was the first person to tell him that today. Even Wonwoo himself had forgotten. He started treating his birthday as any other day as his parents started getting really busy with work and Bohyuk started acting up. He didn’t want anyone fussing over him. But tonight he felt different, as if his birthday could be something to fuss over or be celebrated. It was stupid, and he would push those feelings away very quickly, but for now, he decided to let himself smile. He looked out the window as his reflection caught his eye. Some complete stranger made him smile like this. Some tall, strawberry loving, nicotine addicted, wallet forgetting stranger named Kim Mingyu. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! We meet Gyu!! Thank you for those still following this! Comments are definitely appreciated ^.^ Follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/rosequartstudy) and check out other works there too!


	4. The Best Friend

_ “Did they apologize yet?”  _

It was half past 10pm and Wonwoo was currently Facetiming his friend Kwon Soonyoung. He lay horizontally on his bed, the upper half of his body on the bed while his legs were suspended up by his feet being pressed against the wall that his bed was flushed against. 

He didn’t put too much thought into the interior layout of his room, unlike the rest of the house his mother had meticulously planned and designed. His room was his own space and a lot like him, boring and simple. He had his bed shoved into the far corner of the room, a simple desk sat opposite to his bed and a dresser right next to it. His closet faced the foot of his bed sharing the same wall as the door. It wasn’t a big room but he liked it regardless. It was warm and lived in, unlike the rest of the house that looked like a cold, staged set. 

Wonwoo lolled his head to the side, staring at the ceiling, missing what his friend just asked. His phone rested next to his head showing the ceiling of his bedroom that he was currently gazing at instead of his face, which defeated the intended purpose of the video chat application. He got tired of holding the phone up to his face so Soonyoung would have to deal with it for now. 

Kwon Soonyoung is his childhood best friend. They met when they were in second grade and had gone to the same school until college. Soonyoung attended Changwon Institute of the Arts for dance. It was good for Soonyoung, dancing that was. He had  _ a lot  _ of energy and Wonwoo was sure he had some degree of ADHD. So when Soonyoung’s parents signed him up for youth dance classes, the hyperactive kid that would give their teacher quite the headache became more focused and calmer. Dance was Soonyoung’s outlet and since then, he had grown quite a love for the artform. He continued to join a dance squad in freshman year of high school and by their senior year, he was the lead dancer and choreographer for the team. The dance group participated in many competitions, which ultimately led to a scouter from Changwon Institute of the Arts extending a scholarship to Soonyoung. 

_ “Hello?”  _

Wonwoo’s focus was pulled out of his head and back into the conversation, “Sorry. What?” 

_ “Am I frozen? Can you hear me?”  _

The screen of the phone became flooded with just the face of Soonyoung. He waved his hands frantically in front of the camera. Wonwoo picked up his phone to show his bored, tired expression, “No you’re not frozen. What?” 

_ “Oh. Okay.”  _ Soonyoung positioned his phone back on the counter with him standing above it to show the underside of his face; nostrils and all. He was flossing his teeth now after Wonwoo had to watch him brush and gargle his mouth. Gross.  _ “So did your parents apologize?” _

Wonwoo snorted and threw his phone back down by his head to stare at the ceiling again, “Why would they?” There was a beat of silence until he continued, “Doesn’t matter anyways. They were upset from the Bohyuk incident, I was irritated from that orientation, it's all blown over already. Plus, you know how they are so… whatever.” 

A few days had passed since the incident at the police station and his public family dispute. He didn’t really think about that night much after he woke up the next day. It was almost an everyday occurance; his parents would get mad at him for something, he would lip off, they would get more angry, they would fight, he would walk away, the next day it would be over, save from the cold, lingering ambiance that surrounded his father whenever they entered the same room in the house. The night of his birthday shouldn’t have been an exception from the routine. 

_ “Dude, is that healthy? Shouldn’t you, I don’t know, talk to them about it?”  _

Wonwoo laughed this time, “It’s my parents. When has talking to them ever worked out?” 

Soonyoung applied a face cream following up by slapping his cheeks. He grabbed his phone and held it up in front of his face while turning off the lights in the bathroom and walking out.  _ “Still,”  _ Wonwoo looked over at his phone to see that Soonyoung had flopped himself on his bed and was now wrestling with pulling the sheets out from under him.  _ “It was your birthday. I would be sad if I got yelled at on my birthday.”  _

His birthday. Wonwoo looked up towards his desk. After he got home that night, Soonyoung had texted Wonwoo to meet him at his place. When Wonwoo got there, he was grateful to find that Soonyoung had just invited Jihoon and Jun for a couple of drinks and video games. It was a nice “party” for him. Wonwoo hated extravagant things that consisted of interacting with more than three human beings at once and Soonyoung knew that so he was very appreciative towards the other for planning something small. 

With the small gathering extending late into the night, shaving off hours of his normal sleep time, Wonwoo woke up late the next morning. As he was rushing to pack his things in his backpack, he saw the ripped sticker from the milk bottle with a name, and a phone number still scribbled on it. In haste, he ripped the sticker off his backpack and slapped it on to the front side of his desk drawer where it stayed forgotten for the next few days. 

Wonwoo stared at the sticker now that stuck to his wooden desk. Kim Mingyu. He tried not to think of that encounter. Everything about it was weird to Wonwoo. His actions, the smoke, the strawberries, the conversations, and the fact that Mingyu knew it was Wonwoo’s birthday. Everything was just strange and if he spent more than a few minutes thinking about it, Wonwoo would start to freak out, so he didn't think about it. Instead, he did what he does for all of his problems, he ignored it and hoped it would just magically work out without a second thought on his part. So far, that technique seemed to work for him, so why change what already works? 

_ “Dude.”  _

Wonwoo continued to stare at the sticker while humming out a noncommittal response to Soonyoung. 

_ “Why am I staring at your ugly ceiling? Are you frozen? Hello?”  _

Wonwoo rolled his eyes when he could hear Soonyoung tapping on his screen. Tearing his gaze away from the sticker, he grabbed his phone and held it up to show his face again, “What?” 

Soonyoung was now in bed with the lights off, only the light from his phone illuminating a wide grin on his face,  _ “Pop quiz.”  _

Wonwoo groaned. He hated Soonyoung’s “pop quizzes”. Basically, Soonyoung created surprise quizzes to see if Wonwoo had been listening to him. It was his passive aggressive way of telling Wonwoo that he needs to pay more attention to his surroundings and, really, everything in general. 

When Wonwoo almost walked into the street when the light was red, Soonyoung gave him a ‘pop quiz’ on what a red light means. When Wonwoo forgot to buy chips when he went over to play video games with the others after Soonyoung had texted, called, and reminded him, Soonyoung gave him a ‘pop quiz’ on what he was supposed to bring. When Wonwoo forgot to give Soonyoung his christmas present, Soonyoung gave him a ‘pop quiz’ on what important holiday falls on the 25th of December. It had a follow-up question on what people give to their childhood best friends on this particular holiday. It had  _ another  _ follow-up question on when the appropriate time to give the present was. It was all very annoying for Wonwoo, mainly because he almost always failed these dumb ‘pop quizzes’.

“No. I don’t wanna play your stupid game.”

_ “Pop quiz.” _

Wonwoo stared at Soonyoung through the screen while the other stared back, “What.” 

_ “When is my Open Art Gallery?”  _

Wonwoo smiled. He knew the answer. Soonyoung had only been bothering him for the past three days about it. 

During the summer, Soonyoung participated in a program that was offered to only a handful of students, most of which were upperclassmen. It was a summer program that gave students extra credits and a chance to work with a range of professionals. The gallery was an event that showcased only student’s works that participated in the summer program. Apparently, only really amazing work was picked for the gallery and Soonyoung was featured in a dance documentary that a senior film student was showcasing in this particular event. The dancer was really excited and couldn’t stop talking about it when he found out. 

At first, Wonwoo was reluctant to go, but when he saw how much this meant to his best friend, he couldn’t really say no. When he finally agreed to go, Soonyoung texted him everyday and night, he would mention it whenever they talked either face to face or on the phone. The date was engraved in Wonwoo’s mind so he was really confident in this ‘pop quiz’.

“Thursday, July 21st. Doors open at 6:30pm and it ends at 8. We are getting drinks after.” Wonwoo smiled smugly, confident that he even gave answers to all the follow-up questions Soonyoung was going to throw at him. His feet tapped gently on the wall while he waited for the other to respond. 

Soonyoung only smiled back,  _ “Follow-up question.”  _

Wonwoo groaned and began to protest when Soonyoung cut his line,  _ “What day is tomorrow?” _

“Wednesday.” 

Soonyoung smiled at Wonwoo who gave a fake smile back. Sonnyoung brought the phone close to his mouth only to screech out a sound that mimicked a buzzer sound. Wonwoo flinched at the sudden scream from the other followed up by a glare through his screen. He closed the Facetime screen to look at his calendar app. Shit. Tomorrow was the Open Art Gallery. 

_ “WRONG!”  _ _  
_ __

He could hear Soonyoung laughing when he returned to the Facetime screen only to see his annoying fat cheeks rise, causing his small eyes to appear even smaller. 

_ “Tomorrow is Thursday. That’s one answer right out of two giving you . . .”  _ Soonyoung pretended as if he was calculating in his head and sucked through his teeth feigning disappointment and shaking his head, _ “Fifty percent! I am so sorry but you, my dude, have FAILED!”  _

Wonwoo _ hated  _ these ‘pop quizzes’. They were the only tests that he ever failed. Even though they were meaningless, he still hated them, “I hate your stupid quizzes. They suck.” 

Soonyoung laughed louder this time,  _ “That’s because  _ you _ suck.”  _

“Maybe I’ll just think tomorrow  _ is _ Wednesday and  _ accidentally  _ forget to come tomorrow.”

Right on cue, Soonyoung pretended to talk to someone on his finger phone,  _ “Hello? Dean of Pop Quiz Academy? The grade can be curved? Yes. I see. Thank you. He will be happy to hear that. Good bye, sir.”  _ Soonyoung “hung up” and looked at Wonwoo with a hand covering his mouth in surprise. Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the dramatics of the other. 

_ “That was the Dean . . .”  _

“I hate you.” 

_ “ . . . he said that because you are such a diligent student, he will curve your grade.”  _

“You’re an idiot.” 

_ “But only this once.”  _

“Oh, how generous.” 

_ “You need to study harder next time, dude. The Dean is pretty strict. You got lucky this time.” _

“Whatever.” 

Wonwoo laughed quietly at the idiocracy of his best friend. Every one wondered how they were best friends when they were so different. He also wondered the same sometimes, but then there were times like this when he was glad to have Soonyoung as his best friend. Wonwoo was quite the introvert so having Soonyoung around always made things much easier for him. When they would go out with friends other than Jun and Jihoon, Soonyoung would do most of the talking while Wonwoo would just sit back and watch people. When the waiter got Wonwoo’s order wrong at a restaurant, Wonwoo wouldn’t make a huge deal out of it while Soonyoung was already chasing down the waiter to demand the order be righted. Wonwoo always had the same hair color and style, while Soonyoung dyed his hair the colors of the rainbow. This time around it was blond. Wonwoo was calm and boring while Soonyoung was loud and fun. His best friend seemed quite obnoxious and crazy to some people, but Wonwoo knew that was just one side of him. 

What made Soonyoung his best friend was how the other knew Wonwoo so well. He knew when Wonwoo wasn’t in a talkative mood, so he would instead just sit in comfortable silence with the other. He knew when Wonwoo was feeling uncomfortable in a social situation and would proceed to tell the rest  _ he _ was getting tired so Wonwoo wouldn’t have to feel bad for cutting the outing short. Soonyoung could be quite dense sometimes, but when it came to Wonwoo, he knew him like the back of his hand. Soonyoung is the only person that Wonwoo can deal with almost every day. He really is his best friend, and Wonwoo wouldn’t have it any other way. 

_ “So you need to be there by-”  _

“By 6:30. Got it.” 

_ “Don’t forget we’re gonna have drinks at-”  _

“Pinwheel. I know.” 

_ “Eyy . . . look at us, finishing each other's sentences!”  _

Wonwoo watched as Soonyoung scrunched up his face, grinning as his eyes disappeared above his high cheekbones. He continued to pucker up his lips exaggeratedly to make kissy faces through the screen. 

“You’re annoying. Go to bed. Goodnight. Bye.” Wonwoo waved rushly threatening to hang up on his best friend. 

_ “Wait! Wait!”  _

“What?” 

_ “Send me love through the phone!”  _ Soonyoung kissed the screen and blew it forward. Wonwoo rolled his eyes.

“Gross. Goodnight.” 

_ “Wait! WAIT! Wait, wait, wait, wait.”  _

“WHAT?” 

_ “Catch my finger heart!”  _

Wonwoo watched his best friend ridiculously twist his thumb and finger and slowly move it closer to the screen. He made no move to catch the stupid finger heart,  _ “Catch it! Hurry! Here it comes!”  _ He dropped his fingers down and stared at Wonwoo through the screen seriously,  _ “Dude. You’re a terrible catch. This is why you can’t join a sports team.”  _

“Will you go to bed?” Wonwoo huffed out. 

_ “Fine. Only if you promise to dream of me.”  _

“I’ll dream of your funeral. Goodnight.” Wonwoo gave a curt smile and dropped it immediately. He could hear the other saying something but quickly cut him short by ending the video chat. He smiled smugly at the phone satisfied that he got the last word in. It was a stupid game they played, well  _ one  _ of the stupid games they played, in which the person who gets the last saying wins. Wonwoo was losing this particular game so any opportunity to gain a point he will jump at. 

He felt his phone buzz and looked down to see a text from Soonyoung. 

**Soonyoung:**

**_That doesn’t count._ **

Wonwoo smiled. He sent a quick reply and threw the phone on the bed next to him. 

**Wonwoo:**

**_It does. I win. You lose. Goodnight._ **

He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes just because he felt very comfortable and didn’t feel like moving. His feet were still propped against the wall and his hands were now dangling above his head off the side of the bed. He took some of the sheets that hung down his bed in his fingertips and rubbed them together while he focused on a dirty spot on his ceiling. He felt his phone buzz next to him but he was too lazy to look at it. Wonwoo was too comfy right now so Soonyoung would have to wait. 

When Wonwoo decided lying on the bed and not moving for the rest of his life wasn’t an option for him, he flew his legs in the air gaining momentum to lift his torso up into a sitting position. He sat there head spinning, legs spread into a diamond shape, shoulders slouching while his hands sat limply between his legs. His hair sat any which way on his head as he blinked slowly. His focus was now on the wall in front of him. He had to shower and change, but all he wanted to do was sleep, yet he couldn’t sleep feeling dirty, so he needed to shower and change. It was quite a dilemma he was in. When he felt his phone buzz again, Wonwoo looked over to see two notifications from Soonyoung pop up on his screen. 

**Soonyoung:**

**_Fine. I’ll give it to you._ **

**Soonyoung:**

**_Not like ur gonna win anyways_ ** **😝**

Wonwoo frowned as his lips pressed into a small pout. He sent a middle finger emoji and dropped his phone down between his legs. He finally made the decision to get up and get ready for bed. The quicker he showers, the longer he can sleep. Tomorrow night’s open art gallery was going to have a lot of people he would have to interact with and he would rather have had a goodnight’s sleep so he wasn’t easily irritable. He just hoped there were no surprises thrown his way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh! I live for Soonyoung Wonu friendship! Hope you did too! ^.^ Follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/rosequartstudy) and check out other works there too!


	5. Future Plans

The next day, Wonwoo found himself in the middle of two bickering seniors. It was supposed to be a quick and easy day for him. He finished his two classes he had for the day and was going to go home and rest until it was time for Soonyoung’s Art Gallery. Unfortunately Wonwoo made the poor decision of heading down to the student council room of the Literary Art Building to ask Jisoo to help him translate an article he found for his research paper that was written in English. Instead of getting help though, he found himself stuck in the middle of a “disagreement” between Jeonghan and Jisoo. 

“Even if we do participate in the festival, a lot of the students in the Lit. Art department aren’t gonna want to participate. It’s  _ literally _ going to be us two doing all the work. And you’re such a lazy ass  _ I’m _ gonna end up having to do all the work.” Jisoo huffed out. He sat at the large wooden table that sat in the middle of the room. 

The room itself was small and held two built-in cabinets, two metal desks for the president and the vice president, a mini fridge, and a small couch, where Jeonghan lay, that was flushed against the wall in between two filing cabinets. Jisoo was organizing different flyers and pamphlets for, what Wonwoo was assuming, the field trip to the publishing corporation tomorrow. 

Jeonghan sat up to look at Jisoo, “Not! I’ll help. It was my idea anyways.” He pouted while getting up from where he was sitting. He strolled over to the wooden table that was covered with stacks of papers Jisoo was trying to organize. 

Grabbing a stack, Jeonghan placed them in front of Wonwoo who had been sitting quietly watching the two go back and forth, “Here. If you’re not gonna help me win my argument, you can at least fold brochures.” 

Wonwoo who was now in a daze watching the whole argument unfold was startled at the sound of the huge stack hitting the table in front of him. Nodding at his senior, he grabbed a sheet of printed paper and began folding it in thirds. 

Jeonghan smiled at him and plopped himself in the seat next to Wonwoo. “See! Wonwoo is the most useless and antisocial student in our department and even  _ he _ is willing to help. So we just need a few more students and we’re golden.” 

Wonwoo stopped folding and frowned. Useless and antisocial? Antisocial, he will give Jeonghan that, but useless. Wonwoo wouldn’t go as far as to say he was useless. “Hyung . . .”

**“** Shh.” Jeonghan cut off the sophomore, his attention quickly drawing back to Jisoo as he continued pressing his argument, “Look, I got Minna to work the front desk at the orientation and I’m sure I can persuade her to help again, Seokmin would definitely be down, Wonwoo is already on board so-” 

“Woah, woah, woah, hold on. I don’t- ” Wonwoo waved his hand in the air, signaling that he was most definitely  _ not  _ on board with whatever they were bickering about. Jeonghan looked at him but his attention was pulled away by Jisoo interrupting Wonwoo’s train of thought. 

“Hannie, you made a bet with Minna and she isn’t stupid enough to do that again.” Jisoo was by the filing cabinets this time filing away some folders that had been cluttering the table for the past few weeks. “Maybe you could get Seokmin to help but to pull the kid away from his studies . . .” 

“Shua.” Using the brunette’s English nickname, Jeonghan stood up and turned around to face his friend who was still filing away. He leaned his butt against the table crossing his legs while pressing his hands against the polished wooden surface, “The End of Summer Festival is  _ huge _ in Changwon. If we, as president and vice president, lead the Literary Arts planning committee of this event, it can go right into our resume. I know you’ve been trying to bulk up your resume. So, this is your chance.” 

Listening to his seniors words, Wonwoo pursed his lips and nodded absentmindedly. Jeonghan caught that and smiled at Wonwoo, “Right, Wonwoo?” 

Wonwoo looked up from the corner of the brochure he was flicking between his thumb and finger to meet Jeonghan’s gaze. It was kind, but it also had promise to hurt him if he didn’t agree. Wonwoo sighed. He should have just found an article in Korean and went straight home. 

“Well, a lot of businesses  _ do  _ look at your extracurricular activities to look for any aspect that stands out from the average application so I mean, it won’t hurt.” Wonwoo focused back on folding his brochures avoiding Jeonghan’s satisfied smile. He wouldn’t give his senior the satisfaction of admitting he was playing into Jeonghan’s hands. Even if he was. 

Jisoo sighed pushing the metal drawer closed, “Fine. Only  _ if  _ we can get enough committee members from our department. I’m not gonna end up doing this alone Yoon Jeonghan.” He pointed a finger at his best friend who feigned an innocent look and nodded. 

“Of course not, Hong Jisoo. Look, we already have a happy little helper right here!” Jeonghan gestured towards Wonwoo who was folding the brochures, who only glared back. Unphased, the older’s attention was on his phone as he called a number he had saved, “Ah! Seokmin!” Jeonghan smiled at the two and walked over to his desk and plopped himself in the cushioned seat continuing his indistinct conversation with his junior. 

Jisoo sighed and walked back to sit where he was organizing stacks of papers across Wonwoo. He slouched in his chair nodding towards Wonwoo, “So, where’s the article?” 

Wonwoo looked up from his task to meet the gentle smile from his senior. He gave a tight smile back and fished for his phone out of his back pocket, “I’ll send it over to you.” He busied himself on his phone, “I can understand some, but for the most part I’m gonna need help translating the whole article.” 

Jisoo nodded and reached his hand out, “Can I see it for now?” 

Wonwoo opened the article on his screen and passed his phone using both sweater covered hands to cup the phone out of respect for the older. Jisoo took the phone scrolling down to look at the length of the article. It wasn’t too long and Wonwoo knew he could translate it in about an hour or so. Jisoo nodded, “Should be easy.” He passed the phone back to Wonwoo who bowed slightly, taking the device back. 

“Thanks, hyung.” 

Jisoo waved him off and smiled, “It’s the least I could do after you are volunteering to help with the festival.” 

Wonwoo looked up from his phone to his senior, “Oh. I wasn’t planning on helping with the . . .” Jisoo gave him a confused look, “ . . .festival.” 

“But, you said you were gonna help out if I translated the article for you?” 

Wonwoo stared at the other, “I don’t remember saying that.” 

Jisoo’s confused frown deepened, “Huh, that’s so weird because I’m pretty sure that’s what you said when you asked me earlier. You asked if I could translate it and said since I’m busy planning for the festival you were  _ more  _ than willing to help.” 

“Hyung, you didn’t even want to participate in the festival until just now. How could I . . .” Wonwoo watched as Jisoo tilted his head looking at him with an innocent look. He was playing Wonwoo. He was  _ fucking _ playing him. This is why everyone in the school was wrapped around these two con artists. The gentle smiles, the sweet words, the innocent looks, all of it was just to get their way. Wonwoo walked right into this one. 

Sighing, he gave in to the other’s game, “How could I not help when you are doing me a  _ huge  _ favor by translating my  _ three _ articles.” He didn’t have any other articles he needed translated, but he sure as hell was going to find some. He wasn’t giving in that easy. 

Jisoo laughed habitually covering his mouth and nodded his head, “Alright fair.” 

“Seokmin is in!” Jeonghan yelled across the room while dialing another number already. 

Jisoo smiled, “So is Wonwoo!” He called out keeping his grin wide and directed at the slightly annoyed younger man. 

“I hate both of you.” Wonwoo rolled his eyes and shook his head grabbing his backpack and standing up to head out of the room leaving the stack of folded brochures on the table. They can fold their own damn brochures. He needed a nap before tonight. 

“We’ll text you more details when we get them!” Jeonghan called after him, interrupting the conversation he was having on the phone. Wonwoo absentmindedly waved behind his head and walked out checking his phone for the time. 

_ “3:17”  _

He had enough time for an hour nap and a shower. He might even be able to jam in some research for his paper if he got home quickly. Shoving his phone into his back pocket, Wonwoo made his way towards the bus stop. 

Three hours have never felt so short. When Wonwoo got home, he opted to cut out research completely and instead took a  _ two  _ hour nap. He wouldn't say it was the most responsible choice and it would bite him in the ass later, but in the moment it was definitely worth it. That was the best nap he’s had in awhile. After that, he took a quick shower and threw on a dark grey long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. 

Wonwoo closed his bedroom door and lightly jogged down the stairs, tousling his damp hair and letting excess water flick off. He decided to let his hair air dry since he was too lazy to style it. 

Before he could make it to the front door, Wonwoo heard his name called out, the low, deep voice of his father reaching his ears. Wonwoo was hoping to sneak out without having to confront the man, but luck was never on his side. The older man was sitting behind a large, oak desk in the downstairs home office. 

“Soonyoung’s Art Gallery?” His father wore his reading glasses as his eyes stayed focused on the screen of his laptop still addressing his oldest son. 

It was surprising his father even remembered. Wonwoo stopped a few feet in front of the entrance to the office hoping the distance gave his father the hint that he didn’t have time to idly talk, “It ends at 8. We’re gonna go for drinks after.” 

The older man nodded absentmindedly as he grabbed a folder off his desk looking through its contents, “Hm I see. Sounds … entertaining so to speak.” His father cleared his throat and finally met Wonwoo’s gaze, “I have to go back to the office around 9. Your mother is at the firm late tonight and won’t get back until tomorrow so...” 

To any other person it sounded as if a father was informing his son about his work, but to the trained ear of Wonwoo, it was a silent command. His father’s favorite type. Wonwoo knew what he really meant: 

_ “Make sure to be home before 9 to watch your younger brother. Remember your responsibilities. Your mother and I work hard to put you through school and all you do is go out drinking with your friends? Grow up.”  _

Standing quietly and dropping his eyes to where his fingertips were fiddling with a loose thread hanging from the end of his sleeve, Wonwoo nodded through his father’s words. When he saw there was nothing else left to say, he bowed and stalked off towards the front door. 

As he grew up, just like everyone in Changwon, Wonwoo fell into a familiar and comfortable routine. One where he fulfilled his role and responsibilities, never questioning much, respectfully doing what was asked of him and quietly trying his best to gain the acknowledgement of his busy parents. 

At the age of ten, upon asking his mother why both she and his father worked so much and left him and his brother home alone often, she replied that they never planned to have children and that Wonwoo was a surprise to both of them. She continued to say that the company was very important to her and that sacrifices were needed in order to make dreams come true and obtain happiness. Ten year old Wonwoo could only nod and pretend he understood, while still confused as to why his parents couldn’t spare a moment to play a game with him and his brother, or pick them up from school every now and then like the other kids, or help them with their homework, or even spend a meal together like his friend’s families did. 

But it was clear that his parents, though they tried their best and showed their care and love for the boys in other ways like through monetary gifts, their work was a priority. From that conversation on, Wonwoo continued to do what was expected from him but never expected any time or acknowledgement in return from his parents. 

He currently sat in the back seat of the bus, staring out at the passing buildings of Changwon.

Wonwoo had lived here his whole life. Nothing ever changed here in Changwon. Everything and everyone stayed the same. People say it’s a blessing because that makes Changwon predictable and convenient and Wonwoo had to agree. He knew this whole city like that back of his hand. He liked that. He liked how he knew his way around town, he liked how everyone he met as a child is still there, he liked how it was convenient and familiar and comfortable in Changwon and yet, he planned to leave. 

It was Wonwoo’s plan since high school. Attend a university and graduate with a degree in Literary Arts, intern at a publishing company, then move to Seoul to become an author. There were many steps in between before he could obtain his dream of course, but that was the overall plan. He liked his plan. It was his and his only, a plan  _ he  _ made that no one can take away from him. The only thing holding him from stepping into the world beyond Changwon was himself. His sense of responsibility, his unconscious need to live up to his parents expectations, his fear of disappointing his family, his routine that he had fallen into since he was a child. 

Somewhere along the lines, the comfort and familiarity of home had turned into a confinement and restraint that he wanted to get out of. 

Glancing at his reflection that stared back at himself through the bus window, Wonwoo sighed and shook his head, trying his best to get out of his own thoughts. Tonight he needed to focus on his best friend that had always been there for him through the tears and frustrated rants; the one that was there to pick him up after harsh reprimands from his parents with his goofy smile and ice cream; the one that took the chance without hesitation to obtain his dreams, grabbed the opportunity and didn’t let it go. Wonwoo was proud of Soonyoung and the Open Art Gallery was his special night. Wonwoo thought about how excited his best friend got about tonight, and he started to feel his heart lighten and a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. He wouldn’t say he was looking forward to this event, but he was happy to have a simple evening out with just his friends. His father always made him irritable, so a familiar night with his three best friends was just what he needed to calm his emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonu's got his life planned out! >.< Thank you for reading as always! <3
> 
> Follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/rosequartstudy) and check out other works there too!


	6. A Familiar Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Here is a slightly longer chapter for you! Enjoy!

The building that the Open Art Gallery was held at was only a few blocks away from the bus stop. Wonwoo checked his phone for the time. 

_ “6:20” _

He leisurely made his way until he saw a short, brick building that had vines growing up the walls. There was a huge horizontal picture window next to two glass doors that had long cylindrical wooden handles that attached vertically on the glass panels. There was a sign that hung above the entrance that was labeled, “ _ Happy Ending Open Space”. _ Soonyoung had explained that the building was used for parties and conventions and that his school had rented out the space for the night to hold the Open Art Gallery event. Outside of the building was a growing crowd. Tugging on the hem of his sleeves between his palms, Wonwoo made his way over to the lump of people that formed. 

Wonwoo stood apart from the crowd as he watched different groups of people interact with each other. Everyone had at least come with another person except Wonwoo. So he opted to observe until the doors opened. He watched a group of girls laughing and shoving each other playfully occasionally shrieking happily at what one of them said. Next to them was an elderly couple holding a bouquet of flowers; they were talking quietly but Wonwoo could tell the older lady was brimming with excitement and pride. His eyes scanned over to a family with a mother, a father, and two young girls who looked exactly alike except one wore a blue dress while the other wore a pink dress. The young girl in the pink dress smashed her face up to the window watching the hustle and bustle that was happening inside, while the one in the blue dress stayed close to her father clinging to his dress pants. Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile watching the scene unfold in front of him. It was quite a picture-perfect family. 

“Wonwoo-hyung?” There was an unsure voice that sounded behind Wonwoo, ripping his attention from the family to look in the direction of the voice. He saw a familiar junior standing behind him as a smile grew on the other’s face in recognition of Wonwoo. The boy’s eyes drew up into half crescents while his toothy grin widened causing Wonwoo to slightly smile as well. The kid had quite a contagious smile. 

“Seokmin?” Wonwoo tilted his head as Seokmin took a slight step forward and bowed to which Wonwoo returned, “What are you doing here?” 

Seokmin gestured towards the building, “One of my friends worked on a project that’s being shown here! He’s pretty amazing! He’s in fashion design and is only a freshman and already has his work shown! Well not  _ only  _ his work, but still, pretty cool right?” He gleamed with adoration just talking about his friend. Wonwoo smiled at the man who gave him a questioning look in return, “What about you?” 

Wonwoo bit his lip. If only he had half the excitement that Seokmin had for Soonyoung, he’d feel like a better friend, “Oh, my friend was featured in, like, a dance documentary and he wanted all of us to come and watch him dance in the video, I guess.” Wonwoo smiled fondly thinking about Soonyoung’s constant nagging about this night, “He’s pretty vain.” He gave out a breathy laugh to which Seokmin responded with a loud high pitched laugh as he scrunched up his face and his eyebrows shot up his forehead. 

The crowd started shuffling in when the door flew open. Wonwoo looked in the direction of Seokmin and held out his hand signaling the younger to head in first. Seokmin smiled and slightly bowed pacing towards the entrance and Wonwoo followed next to him. 

Upon entering, they were hit with a nice air conditioning breeze. Wonwoo looked around taking everything in as Seokmin stood next to him probably doing the same thing. The interior was huge. The floors were made of polished concrete with an open beam ceiling that hung spotlights on tracks. There were panels on wheels that were placed throughout the room creating small spaces that hung paintings, drawings or had a cloth covered table with computer screens, statues, and other various art pieces sitting atop them. 

“Hyung! Let’s meet up after so I can watch the dance video your friend is featured in!” Seokmin faced Wonwoo this time and smiled brightly at his senior to which Wonwoo smiled back. 

“Yeah, that sound’s good. I would love to see your friend’s fashion . . .” He realized he wasn’t quite sure what Seokmin’s friend was displaying, “ . . . thing too.” Wonwoo found himself not being able to reject the younger. Maybe it was that smile. 

Seokmin beamed, “Okay! See you soon!” He clicked his tongue while shooting Wonwoo two finger guns and rushed off into the crowd. It was definitely that smile. 

Wonwoo shook his head and gently smiled looking down at his phone to see if he had any messages from Soonyoung. Instead he saw a few notifications from Jihoon. 

  
  


**Jihoon:**

**_Gonna be late. Jun is having a crisis._ **

**Jihoon:**

**_Tell Soonyoung to turn his phone on. Jun forgot his at home. The two idiots._ **

**Jihoon:**

**_won its jun . . . say goodbye to my hair forever . . . and ever . . ._ **

**Jihoon:**

**😭😭😭**

Wonwoo frowned at the text Jun sent on Jihoon’s phone. The messages were sent at 6:27. He quickly replied back, hopefully getting a better answer from Jihoon and not Jun.

**Wonwoo:**

**_What?_ **

**Jihoon:**

**_Don’t worry about it. Leaving now. Be there in 15 min._ **

Wonwoo’s frown deepened and as he was about to reply back, he felt a huge weight jump on his back. Stumbling forward, he looked over his shoulder to see Soonyoung’s smiling face out of his peripheral vision. His best friend made no attempt to detach himself from Wonwoo and instead wrapped his hands around his shoulders.

Wonwoo grinned and held up his phone, “Check your phone. Jihoon and Jun are gonna be late.” 

Soonyoung let go at that and whipped Wonwoo around to stand in front of him, “What?” The blond dancer pouted. His lips pursed out and his eyebrows furrowed down staring at Wonwoo attempting to look cute. 

Wonwoo laughed and slapped the other’s forehead, “Don’t do that, you’re ugly. Plus, Jihoon said to tell you sorry and that they’ll try to be here on time.” He gave a reassuring smile not wanting to  _ completely  _ ruin this night for his friend. This was all Soonyoung talked about for the whole week and if that meant fibbing a little and smiling more to make this night memorable for his best friend, then so be it. 

“Bullshit! Jihoon would  _ never  _ apologize!” Soonyoung “pouted” even more this time shaking his shoulders in an attempt to be cuter. He failed. Wonwoo laughed at him and patted his shoulder walking forward into the room.

Looking back, Wonwoo smiled, “Where’s your display?”

At that, Soonyoung perked up again and rushed over to his friend’s side, “It’s this way.” He made his way towards the right side of the room with Wonwoo following behind him, “Dude, let me tell you, I look really good in the video. I was so amazed at how I look when I dance.” 

Wonwoo rolled his eyes and laughed, shaking his head walking up next to Soonyoung while his friend kept ranting on about how great he was and how Wonwoo is going to be touched by his interview. 

_ “Dance is . . . it’s not just a hobby, It’s who I am.”  _

Upon reaching the small sectioned display, Wonwoo stood and watched his best friend on the large TV screen that was set up on a table that showcased the student’s work. The documentary showed other students and their stories as dancers and they were half way through Soonyoung’s story when he started his interview. The dancer sat in a dark dance studio with a spotlight illuminating just him sitting on a stool. His hair was the darker brown he had during summer break before he dyed it blonde, which seemed to add to the seriousness of the interview. It was quite dramatic if you asked Wonwoo. He looked over to Soonyoung, who was watching himself intently, and bit back a laugh. Smiling to himself, he looked back at the screen where Soonyoung was now dancing. It was in slow motion and his talking was dubbed over the dance routine shown. 

_ “Sure it started off as a hobby. As a kid I would dance to get my energy out but then, I started to love it and dance became a huge part of my life.”  _

Wonwoo felt his phone buzz and looked at the screen. 

**Jihoon:**

**_We’re here._ **

**Wonwoo:**

**_On the right side. Middle panel._ **

Wonwoo looked back up at the screen, focusing his attention back to the documentary. In the video, Soonyoung was shown sitting in the dance studio again.

_ “I guess . . . dance filled a part of my life I didn’t know was missing.” _

Wonwoo watched through the screen as the interviewed Soonyoung scratched the back of his head giving a thoughtful look at nothing in particular and nodded. 

_ “Kind of like . . . life always knows what you need and when you need it, even if you think your life is complete, it’s like it knows something you don’t . . . and when you least expect it, it will bring you the  _ **_one_ ** _ thing that you never even knew was missing . . . then you’ll wake up one day and realize, the one thing that was missing, was the one thing that makes your life complete . . . that’s what dance means to me.”  _

Wonwoo focused on the screen as Soonyoung faded from the screen and sentimental music played while clips of all the dancers dancing in slow motion faded in and out. The credits started to roll when the “real” Soonyoung looked over to his best friend, “I was pretty cool right? Just the way I talked about dance gave such a cool vibe right?” 

Wonwoo laughed at that. He slapped a hand on Soonyoung’s shoulder and gave an encouraging squeeze, “You’re right. You did look pretty cool.” Soonyoung gleaned at his friend's words while Wonwoo felt his phone buzz again. 

**Jihoon:**

**_Too many people. Where are you?_ **

**Wonwoo:**

**_I’ll come find you._ **

**Jihoon:**

**_By the huge flamingo statue._ **

Wowoo looked around to see if he could see Jihoon. Well, at least the top of his head or Jun. He looked over to Soonyoung, “I gotta go get Jihoon and Jun. Be right back.” 

Soonyoung was talking to the director of the documentary when he nodded at Wonwoo, “Hey, make sure not to tell them how cool I was. Don’t wanna spoil the surprise.” He winked at Wonwoo playfully who rolled his eyes and laughed. 

“Alright. Wouldn't dream of it.” Wonwoo walked off in the general direction of the entrance to look for his two friends or the flamingo statue. It didn’t take long to find the statue. It was made of sheet metal and other scraps of, what looked like, car parts. It was also enormous. There, he found his two friends standing, looking around. Jihoon wore a black short sleeve shirt with a picture of a child’s face eating ice cream that fit the whole front of the shirt. Casual, like always. His hair was a reddish brown and the boy stood only 164 centimeters tall, but still had a strong presence. Next to him stood their other friend, Jun. He moved from China when he was in middle school and he stood taller than the other, dressed in a white button up shirt and black ripped jeans. His hair . . . was pink. Wonwoo bit his lip as he walked towards the two. 

“What . . . happened?” he questioned, pressing his lips together, holding back a grin. 

__

Jun looked towards his approaching friend and sighed dramatically, “Is it that bad? Jihoon said it looked fine.” 

“Jihoon lied. It’s pretty bad.” Wonwoo’s smile grew bigger as he kept staring at his friend’s pink head. Jun looked endearingly stupider the longer he looked. The other slouched where he stood, causing his head to bob down. Wonwoo bit his lips through his mouth, refusing to let himself laugh as he watched the pink head bob up and down with Jun’s every move. 

Jihoon looked from Wonwoo to Jun, “I didn’t say it  _ looked _ fine, I said it  _ was _ fine and everything  _ is  _ fine. You’ll live.” He slapped the back of Jun, stifling a laugh as well. 

Jun looked flabbergasted at the two, “ ** _I’M_** not fine! None of **_this_** is fine. ” Jun moved his finger around his hair wiggling his head causing the other two to lose their composure. Wonwoo failed first and let a small laugh escape his lips which led to Jihoon completely losing it, laughing loudly and clapping his hands all the while looking at Jun. This then led to Wonwoo completely losing it as well.

“It’s just that,” Wonwoo scrunched his nose trying to compose himself while he leaned both hands on Jun’s shoulders, “It’s so pink.” 

Jihoon laughed at that and reached up to play with Jun’s hair, “It will be fine. It will grow on us. Just like Soonyoung’s hair colors he chooses. We always think it’s stupid till we get used to it.” Wonwoo nodded at that and gave a reassuring pat on Jun’s shoulder. 

“Wonwoo-hyung!” 

At the mentioned name, all three boys pulled their attention to Seokmin who was at another display a few feet across them. Wonwoo smiled as the younger made his way towards them, “Thank god I saw you! I realized I didn’t know where your friend’s display was!” Noticing Wonwoo’s company, Seokmin gave a slight bow. 

Wonwoo gestured towards Seokmin, who now stood in front of the trio, “This is my junior from my department major,” he introduced, addressing his two friends that both nodded in acknowledgement of the younger student, “And this is Jihoon and Jun. They go to Kyungnam University with us too.” 

“Nice to meet you! I’m Lee Seokmin! I’m Wonwoo-hyung’s precious junior!” He smiled brightly and bowed individually to each boy, who also bowed back politely. 

“Precious?” Jihoon gave a questioning look to Wonwoo who shrugged nonchalantly.

“Ah! Wonwoo-hyung I want you to meet my friend too! We were trying to find your display.” Seokmin walked a few feet over to a man who stood with his back facing the three older students. He was looking at a painting of a woman that hung on one of the panels. Seokmin grabbed the man’s arm, turning him around to walk back towards the three men. 

Wonwoo watched as Seokmin held on to the arm belonging to a familiar face. His dark hair, full lips, and towering height. They stopped in front of the three when the taller man looked at Wonwoo in surprise. 

Seokmin started, “Gyu, this is-” 

“Jeon Wonwoo.” The taller finished with a slight smile.

Seokmin looked at Wonwoo and his friend, “Wonwoo-hyung this is-” 

“Kim Mingyu.” Wonwoo finished with a slight frown. 

The two stared at each other for a while. Mingyu still wore that permanent mischievous smile while he looked at Wonwoo in surprise. His dark hair was side parted and gelled up displaying his full forehead. He wore a simple black dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up mid way and dark ripped jeans. Memories of smoke and strawberries flooded Wonwoo’s mind, who would have been convinced the whole night was a dream if not for the milk sticker he stared at almost every night. Seokmin looked between the two men, “You two . . . know each other?” 

Mingyu snapped out of it first and turned to look at his friend, “Yeah. He, uh, helped me out the other night,” he scratched the base of his neck and gestured to nothing in particular over his shoulder, “Bought me a lighter when I forgot mine.” 

Wonwoo snorted, “Amongst other things.” 

Mingyu laughed at the comment while Seokmin pushed Mingyu lightly, “Wonwoo-hyung, you can’t encourage this guy’s bad habits.” 

Wonwoo watched as Mingyu pushed Seokmin back grinning. He felt a nudge and looked over to see Jun looking at him expectantly. In return, Wonwoo looked back at his friend blankly. Hearing Mingyu’s small laugh drew his attention towards the taller man once again. 

“I see you still have a hard time with introductions.” 

Jun and Jihoon snickered at Mingyu’s comment while Jihoon patted Wonwoo’s upper back and nodded towards Mingyu, “Who’s your new friend?” 

Wonwoo looked at Mingyu and back at Jihoon and Jun, “He’s not my friend. I already told you his name.” 

Knowing they wouldn’t get much else out of Wonwoo, Jun rolled his eyes and reached out to shake Mingyu’s hand, “Wen Junhui. This is Lee Jihoon.” He pointed to the shorter man standing next to Wonwoo. Mingyu smiled and shook his hand bowing slightly. 

Wonwoo frowned as he watched Jun easily slip into conversation with Seokmin and Mingyu. Slightly to the side of the chatting three, Jihoon nudged Wonwoo, “What’s up with you? I know you’re a bit awkward but that was pretty bad.” 

Wonwoo whipped his head looking down at the other man, “What? I mentioned his name. He’s Seokmin’s friend, shouldn’t  _ he  _ introduce him?” 

Jihoon rolled his eyes, “Yeah which then you should follow up by introducing us. Shit Won, that’s like Social Interaction 101.” 

Wonwoo sighed, “Shut up.” He gestured towards the pink haired man, “Look, Jun is doing great in Social Interaction 101, so it’s fine.” He turned his attention back to the scene in front of him as Seokmin talked animatedly to Jun and Mingyu. Wonwoo’s eyes drifted to the taller of the three, locking gazes with dark eyes that matched his own. Wonwoo blinked as he watched a small smile slip onto Mingyu’s lips before the taller man turned his attention back to Seokmin, his smile still intact. 

Jihoon peered at Wonwoo then looked towards Mingyu. Crossing his arms across his chest, Jihoon observed the brief yet avid glances that were sent between his friend and this new, tall kid he just met. Jihoon looked at Wonwoo again, who was now unconsciously fidgeting with his sleeves, eyes still staring at the tall newcomer. He then turned back to watch, Mingyu, who wasn’t holding Wonwoo’s gaze anymore, but had a small smile gracing his lips. Jihoon glanced back at his friend and shoved a hand in his pocket, “Huh.” 

Wonwoo ripped his attention away from Mingyu to look towards his shorter friend, “What?” 

The other shook his head and jutted his lips out while scratching his eyebrow with his thumb, “Nothing. Shouldn’t we find Soonyoung?” he nonchalantly commented, as if he hadn’t been observing the whole situation unfolding in front of him for the past few minutes. 

Wonwoo looked his smaller friend up and down suspiciously while Jihoon stepped forward to grab Jun’s attention, “Wonwoo’s gonna show us Soonyoung’s video.” 

Jun nodded as they all looked to Wonwoo to lead the way. Playing with his sleeves nervously, Wonwoo nodded and made his way towards the right side of the gallery with the company of the other four following behind. 

_ . . . then you’ll wake up one day and realize, the one thing that was missing, was the one thing that makes your life complete . . . that’s what dance means to me.”  _

When they approached the table that was covered in a black cloth with a big screen playing the documentary on a loop, Wonwoo noticed Soonyoung talking to another taller man who looked around Wonwoo’s height, he wore a thin scoop neck shirt with a black shoulder padded blazer that rested on his shoulders while his sleeves dangled to his side. To complete the outfit, he wore loose high waisted striped dress pants and accessorized with a long pendant necklace. He looked very well put together. 

“Hao!” Seokmin called out excitedly next to Wonwoo, catching the attention of both Soonyoung and the stranger he was talking to. Wonwoo looked from Seokmin to the other two. The younger might as well have just gone to this school, he already knew everybody here. 

The fashionable one looked at the approaching company surprisingly, “Seokmin. Gyu. I was looking for you guys.” He said apathetically as if he didn’t try  _ that  _ hard to look for them. Seokmin laughed mentioning that Mingyu wanted to see some paintings that were displayed. The stranger looked towards Wonwoo and bowed, “I’m Minghao. Xu Minghao.”

“This is Wonwoo-hyung, and Jun-hyung, and Jihoon-hyung.” Seokmin pointed each individual out as he introduced them to the stranger. Wonwoo was quite impressed how Seokmin remembered all their names, the kid had a mind like a steel trap.

Jihoon nudged Wonwoo, “He’s an ace at Social Interaction 101. That’s how it’s done, take notes,” the comment making the taller roll his eyes.

Soonyoung had greeted the group with a general acknowledgment and rushed towards the laptop that was hooked up to the screen in excitement, “We were waiting for you guys to show up so I could show you guys the video in one go.” Soonyoung was fiddling with the mouse when he pointed towards his head with his free hand, “And Jun, dude, love the hair by the way.” Jun winced as everyone’s attention went to his bright pink head. 

Moving on, Soonyoung raised his hand in the air dramatically, “Friends of mine . . .  _ fans  _ of mine, you are here to be the first to witness my debut as an artist. Filmed by the rising genius director Song Jiseok, I welcome you to the premier of the documentary: The Art of Dance.” 

Small applause was given from the little group, which slowly died down as they waited and watched Soonyoung fiddle with the mouse and click on random things on the screen. The blond looked confused as to why the video was still paused. They heard him click another button when they saw a blue window pop up on the big screen and white numbers started to type across the monitor. Wonwoo watched in amusement as stress started to surface on his best friend’s face. 

He looked to Jihoon, “You or me?” 

Jihoon sighed, “I got this.” He walked over to where Soonyoung was slouched over clicking the mouse vigorously. 

Wonwoo saw Jun move over towards Seokmin and Minghao to idly chat while waiting, asking something about Minghao being from China. Wonwoo felt a presence over his shoulder and looked up. He saw Mingyu looking over to the scene in front of them. Jihoon had slapped Soonyoung’s hand away from the mouse, fiddling with the keyboard as well. They could hear Soonyoung complaining that “Jiseok-hyung” had taught him how to start the video before he went to look at other displays, but all whines were shushed by the shorter man who concentrated on fixing the problem. 

“Should I go find the genius director?” 

Wonwoo looked back to Mingyu and snorted, “I don’t know if he’s an actual genius. Even so, you wouldn’t know what he looks like or where to find him.” 

Mingyu shrugged, “I could just go around asking if anyone knows him. M’sure someone would know.” 

Wonwoo stared at the other in disbelief, “And that would be more productive?” 

Mingyu gave a breathy laugh and nodded towards Soonyoung, “He looks pretty stressed.” 

Wonwoo looked back, “Yeah well, he’s always stressed when it comes to technology.” He watched Soonyoung press a button on the screen when it went black and yelped when Jihoon slapped the back of his head, turning the screen back on, “I wouldn’t worry too much. Jihoon’s dealing with it.” 

“Are you bad at technology too?” 

Wonwoo turned his attention back to the taller man, “No.” 

Mingyu smiled, “So you don’t really have an excuse for not calling me then.” 

Appalled at the brashness of the taller male, Wonwoo stared at Mingyu as he attempted to find an answer or at least a comment of some sort, but nothing came out. He was really straightforward and Wonwoo didn’t know what to do with half the shit that came out of the other’s mouth. 

“There! We did it!” Soonyoung jumped rushing over to Jihoon’s side when he saw the video come back onto the laptop’s screen. Jihoon looked over to the other in disgust while the rest of the company’s attention was turned towards the screen again. Through his peripheral, Wonwoo could see Mingyu’s gaze was kept on him for a few seconds longer before turning back to the screen with everyone else.

“Friends of mine. . .  _ fans  _ of mine, you are here to witness-” Soonyoung’s speech was cut short by Jihoon playing the video earning him a pout from the blond man. Soonyoung walked over to Wonwoo to stand and watch his video for the twentieth time of the night, “He could have waited until my speech was done.” He pouted.

Wonwoo patted his shoulder finding words of comfort for the other, “The speech sucked.” Soonyoung shoved the taller lightly who laughed as his nose scrunched up bringing out deep wrinkles on the bridge. 

As the video continued to play, Wonwoo attempted to keep his focus on the cinematography that was the documentary, yet found his attention would slowly drift to a certain man that was standing a little too close for comfort. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, more Gyu! (And more of him from here on out!) Hope you enjoyed! Leave me your thoughts :)


	7. Pinwheel

Pinwheel was their go-to bar. It was pretty close to all of their houses, so it was a place the four friends frequented quite often. When Jun got into the Veterinarian program, they all came here to celebrate, when Jihoon finally turned of legal age after the rest of the three, they came here and got completely shitfaced, or when Soonyoung found out some girl who was way out of his league was dating some other guy, they all, Jihoon begrudgingly, came here to console their friend.

It was a comfortable place for Wowoo. A place of many different memories, good and bad, and also some embarrassing ones. He loved how it was small and homey, it wasn’t loud like a sports bar, or muggy like an old pub, it was just the right noise level to have a conversation and the right temperature for Wonwoo’s liking. Located on the bottom floor of a coffeehouse, so the entrance is a few steps down from street level, Wonwoo always felt like he was entering some secret store in Diagon Alley.

The best part was the people who owned the bar, Aunty and Uncle Song. They were an elderly couple with very progressive personalities. They both worked for a huge advertising company in Seoul since the 70’s, but when they met a few years ago, they decided to quit everything and use all of their savings to open up their own Coffee House and Bar. So with the use of a dart and a map, they both ended up here in Changwon, where they got married and opened up Pinwheel Coffee and Bar. It was the best story Wonwoo had ever heard. He loved this bar and everything it holds in it. He never felt the need to be on guard here or feel uncomfortable . . . well, until tonight.

It’s not that he hated the company, it was just that Wonwoo wasn’t used to having drinks with random strangers. Well, maybe not random, as Seokmin is his junior from school . . . and maybe not strangers, as they have been hanging out for a couple of hours during the Open Gallery and he’s known two of them from even before the event, but still . . . Wonwoo didn’t go drinking with people he just met or doesn’t know that well.

“It’s true! Then, Wonwoo got up on the table-” A hand was slapped over Soonyoung’s blabbering mouth and was paired along with a glare from Wonwoo, who had reached out across the table from where he was sitting to shut the blond up. This was why he didn’t drink with people he doesn’t know. Especially the stories that could be told in this particular bar. Eyes still shimmering with tease, Soonyoung nodded, waving his hand in the air as a sign of giving in. Wonwoo slowly let go of the other’s face when Aunty Song came to fill more beers for the table.

“What are you young kids talking about?” She rubbed Mingyu’s shoulders, who sat at the end of the table and poured his glass first, obviously smitten with how cute he was to which the other played along and winked giving a small thanks. She grabbed Wonwoo’s glass who sat next to Mingyu, “Did you tell them about your sexy table dance Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo sighed and hung his head between his shoulders as half the table burst out into laughter while the other half stared amusingly at him. He kept his eyes on his newly filled glass when he heard Aunty Song speak up again, “But his dance can’t beat when Soonyoung threw up in a couple’s stroller all over their newborn!” Just like that, the attention was focused on Soonyoung who attempted to explain himself. Wonwoo looked up to Aunty Song who poured the last glass and winked at him. He gave a small smile of gratitude and watched as she made her way back to the bar counter. Wonwoo could see Mingyu shift in his seat next to him and when he glanced over to see why the other couldn’t seem to sit still, he was met with dark brown eyes looking at him expectantly, “What?”

Mingyu laughed quietly, shaking his head, “Wouldn’t have taken you for a lightweight.” Wonwoo scoffed and gave a halfhearted glare towards the other who looked him up and down, “Although, you’re like fifty pounds soaking wet. Makes sense.” Mingyu innocently took a sip of his beer while Wonwoo narrowed his eyes at the other now fully facing him.

“I’m not that skinny.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes and lifted Wonwoo’s hand up by his wrists, “Hyung, your wrists are the same width as my thumb,” he measured his thumb next to the small wrists as if trying to prove a point.

Wonwoo sighed watching the other in annoyance, “Well, you’re ginormous so the scale at which you’re measuring my wrists is unfair.” He pulled his hands out of the other’s grasp, “And since when was I your hyung?”

Mingyu shrugged his shoulders, “Seokmin said you were a year older than us. That makes you my hyung.” The younger took another huge gulp of his beer, puffing his cheeks out, then analyzed the light golden color of the liquid. He smacked his lips after swallowing and looked over to Wonwoo casually.

Wonwoo looked back at the glass that his fingers were lightly tapping thoughtfully, “Calling me ‘Hyung’ implies that we know each other well, which we don’t.” He looked over at Mingyu with intrigue as if it was a challenge to see if the other could find a nonchalante answer to his statement.

Without a beat Mingyu turned his whole body to face the older, “Alright, what’s your favorite color?”

Wonwoo scoffed, “Who says I want to get to know you?”

Mingyu just shrugged, “Then what am I gonna call you? The Bus Stop Man? Mister Cake Hater?” Mingyu looked up thoughtfully with no intentions of stopping just to bug the other, “Seokmin’s Hyung But Not My Hyung Because I Don’t Know You Well Enough To Call You Hyung? Mister Judgy Of Your Favorite Flavor Because It Doesn’t Match Your Style?”

Wonwoo bit back a small smile, “Fine. Purple. Will you stop now?”

Mingyu smiled at the answer, obviously satisfied, “Purple is a nice color. It’s my sister’s favorite color too.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer, “Thought you were an only child. You act like a spoiled kid.”

Mingyu shook his head, “Nope. I have a younger sister, Minseo. She is a junior at Changwon High School,” he smiled fondly as if thinking about his sister brings back fun and loving memories. His attention drew back to Wonwoo again, “How about you? Any siblings?”

Wonwoo traced the rim of his glass making sure not to let his sleeve that hung off his fingers get into the beer, “Mn. Bohyuk. He’s a junior at the same highschool.” Mingyu looked at him excited as if it were possible that their siblings were friends to which Wonwoo quickly cleared up, “He’s a little shit though, I doubt your sister knows him.”

Mingyu laughed at that, “I’m sure it’s just adolescence. I was a handful in highschool too.”

Wonwoo nodded, believing that Mingyu was, in fact, a handful during his adolescent years as he still seems like a lot to deal with in his beginning years of adulthood.

“So, now you get to ask a question.”

Wonwoo looked over to Mingyu who finished off his beer and looked back at the older expectantly. Wonwoo paused briefly thinking of a question to ask, “Mmm . . . What school do you go to?”

Mingyu shook his head, “I didn’t apply for college.” He smiled at that and didn’t make any elaboration on the topic, but instead continued on with his own questioning.

It went like that for a while. One asks a question while the other answers, then they would switch. Wonwoo found out quite a bit about the man he had met on the night of his birthday. One thing he found quite interesting, but not surprising, was how opposite they were. Where one was an extrovert, the other was an introvert. Where one preferred books, the other would rather watch movies. Where one had three best friends, the other had an array of friends he hung out with. Winter was one’s preferred season because he liked to stay in and sleep, and the other’s favorite was Summer because he could go out and play. Even down to one liking cats better, while the other is a ‘dog person all the way.’

Before he could throw another question at Mingyu, Wonwoo felt Jihoon tap his foot from across the table. Looking up to meet the other’s eyes who sat across the table, he saw a mixed expression plastered across the shorter’s face. It looked as if he was slightly annoyed-- which wasn’t a surprise-- with an undertone of intrigue. Wonwoo slightly tilted his head as a nonverbale question directed at the other. Instead of getting an answer, Jihoon tapped his own wrist, reminding Wonwoo of the time.

Remembering he told his friends he needed to get home before nine, Wonwoo checked his phone while he heard Jihoon’s chair scrape against the polished wooden floor to excuse himself from the table. Looking towards the boisterous conversation happening on the other side of the table, Wonwoo silently attempted to make eye contact with either Jun or Soonyoung to let them know he was leaving. Unsurprisingly, neither saw his gaze and instead were absorbed in their conversations. Wonwoo looked over to Mingyu who was finishing off his third beer of the night. It hasn’t even been a whole hour since they sat down and the guy was ready for his fourth beer already. Was he even drunk yet? Wonwoo only realized how long he had been staring when Mingyu finally made eye contact with him.

“What’s up?” He nodded towards Wonwoo with a slight concerned frown, obviously catching on that the other was bothered.

Wonwoo shook his head, “No, it’s just that I have to go.” He shook his phone apathetically signaling that it was getting late. Mingyu looked him up and down with an unreadable expression before nodding and scooting his chair over to give Wonwoo room to get out.

Wonwoo bowed slightly, “Thanks.” After squeezing his way out between Mingyu’s seat and another customer’s seat who was pushed out a little too far, Wonwoo turned and faced the younger man, “Um . . .” He scratched his jaw nervously as Mingyu waited patiently staring up at Wonwoo, who was attempting to find an appropriate parting response to give someone you met twice, “I’ll tell Jihoon that I’m going so you don’t have to interrupt them. They probably won’t notice either way.” Wonwoo flicked his eye towards Soonyoung who was starting to turn red in the cheeks from the alcohol. Smiling to himself, he turned and looked back at Mingyu, “They’re getting pretty plastard so . . .” Mingyu nodded in understanding as Wonwoo decided on a respectful bow towards the other man as a good way for him to exit the social gathering. With a short “night”, Wonwoo turned towards the bar counter where Jihoon had escaped to. Glancing briefly over his shoulder as he made his way towards Jihoon, Wonwoo quickly turned his gaze forward once again as he noticed Mingyu’s eyes still lingering on him.

“Hey.” Jihoon walked out from behind the counter with a pitcher full of beer he had poured from the tap that Uncle usually lets their regulars help themselves to.

“Thanks for reminding me of the time.” Wonwoo patted Jihoon on the shoulder who just nodded uninterestedly.

“Well you seemed pretty busy with Lover Boy, so I figured you lost track of time in his eyes.” Jihoon slurped some of the foam off the top of the plastic pitcher that was dripping down the sides.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the other’s comment, “I’m gonna ignore that. Can you tell the rest that I left? Tell Soonyoung I had a curfew, I don’t want him bugging me later about ditching early.”

Jihoon nodded, “Whatever. Does Lover Boy know you’re leaving?” Wonwoo sighed at the nickname his friend insisted on using.

“What is this stupid ‘lover boy’ you keep-” Wonwoo was cut short when he saw Jihoon nod his chin towards the general direction behind him. Turning around, Wonwoo saw Mingyu walking with Aunty towards the bar where he and Jihoon stood, engaged in their own conversation. She was a short older lady that was all bone and barely any meat and her head reached just under the giant man’s biceps. He displayed his flirtatious smile that was obviously charming the older lady while he carried a tray of empty dishes he probably offered to help her carry.

As they approached closer, Wonwoo and Jihoon could hear Aunty Song’s gentle remark, “Well, you and your friends are welcomed here anytime you want. I just love the energy of the youth, they make me feel young again.” Mingyu laughed placing the tray on the counter near Jihoon as Aunty placed a strong grip on Wonwoo’s upper arm squeezing encouragingly, “You seemed to even get Wonwoo out of his bubble and actually socialize with other people!” She smiled up at Wonwoo slyly, “Unless he’s just attracted to your handsome face and can’t resist talking to you.” Wonwoo deflated in annoyance at everyone’s assumptions about his relationship with Mingyu. He chanced a quick glance towards the taller male who seemed completely unbothered by the older lady’s comment and instead just laughed ardently at how adorable Aunty was. A forceful slap landed on Wonwoo’s shoulder blade from Jihoon who was snickering under his breath as if his point of “lover boy” was proven with the acknowledgement from Aunty’s comment.

“I’m heading back to the table. I’ll let the others know you left Wonwoo.” With that Jihoonn gave a knowing look towards his friend and when he turned towards Mingyu, his face fell into an unreadable one as he lingered one last look at the taller man before casually walking back to their table, his hands gripped to his pitcher.

“Wait, you’re leaving so soon?” Aunty Song gazed up at Wonwoo who attempted to avoid her crestfallen look he knew she was undoubtedly giving him. Instead he cleared his throat and dropped his gaze as he pulled his sleeves over his hands to keep him focused on anything but her disappointed tone. He knew if he were to listen to her grumbles and look into her big brown eyes hidden beneath her silver curly fringe begging him to stay longer, he would eventually give in like all the other times he had done so in the past.  
Tonight he couldn’t stay though, he had a responsibility and he couldn't just leisurely do as he pleased like other nights. Patting the shorter lady’s bouncy curls that were teased and styled atop her head, Wonwoo gave an apologetic smile.

Aunty sighed while placing both hands on her hips in annoyance, “Is it your parents again? Making you take care of that good-for-nothing brother of yours?” Wonwoo shook his head slightly hoping to ease her mind but quickly saw that it was to no avail as the little older woman was starting to get more irritated by the second, “He’s always getting into fights and yet they blame you and get mad at you? Aish! If you two were my grandsons, you know what I would do? I would slap the both of you! Right in the head! Bohyuk for being a brat, and you for never speaking up for yourself!”

Aunty Song sat down on an empty bar stool fanning herself with the dish cloth she had tucked away in her apron trying to calm herself down from her enraged rant, “Tsk, seriously . . . these kids nowadays,” she continued to grumble to herself quietly as Wonwoo bit his lips and pulled at his sleeves even more. He could feel the eyes of a certain taller man on him, but instead decided to ignore Mingyu who was watching this whole scene unfold.

Moving towards the older lady and placing a hand on her shoulder, Wonwoo smiled gently, “Aunty, are you done?”

Aunty Song frowned at the younger man, her short feet dangled from the height of the wooden stool she sat on. She stared at Wonwoo who stared back at her with a kind expression. Rolling her eyes she held the towel out towards his face adamantly, “You are not to wait at that bus stop by yourself,” she looked over to Mingyu, “You,” her towel was now directed at the taller man who stood quiet this whole time but was now standing a little straighter with the attention pulled on to him, “Make sure Wonwoo gets on that bus safely, you understand?”

Wonwoo audibly inhaled shaking his head looking back and forth from Aunty Song to Mingyu, “No. That’s really not-”

“I understand.” Mingyu gave a firm nod and a determined look, saluting as if he was a soldier carrying out his General’s orders. The General being Aunty Song who returned his nod with a playful smile grazing her lips.

“That’s a good man.” She gave an encouraging pat on his shoulder, “You protect that skinny little butt of his.”

Wonwoo sighed shaking his head exasperatedly, “My skinny little--I don’t need anyone to protect my bu--my, me. I don’t need anyone to protect me, the bus stop is safe.”

Mingyu smiled slightly watching the man in front of him fluster on his words while Aunty Song just ignored him, “You know I was watching the news last night and they said that the underground men that do the human trafficking are starting to migrate here to Changwon. They are looking for new prey . . .” She looked around and whispered the next part, “ . . . _male_ prey.” her tone was low and serious and her eyes were wide with sincerity.

“I _don’t_ think the underground men are coming here, Aunty.” Wonwoo sighed out.

“I gotta take a little breather anyways,” Mingyu cut in, “The air can get a little muggy in here for me so I'm gonna step outside for a while. I can definitely look out for any underground men while I’m out there.” Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the other who added no help to the older lady’s delusions.

“Perfect! You go protect Wonwoo from them with your big arms okay?” She jumped down from the stool and pushed them both in the direction of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bus stop scene next? hehe  
> Let me know what you think!


	8. His Phone Number

Wonwoo and Mingyu made their way out of the bar and into the summer night air. As they walked towards the end of the block where the bus stop was located, Mingyu fished into his pocket grabbing a pack of cigarettes out. Wonwoo rolled his eyes as the taller man placed a rolled nicotine bud between his lips, “This is your  _ breather  _ you so desperately needed?” 

Mingyu chuckled, flicking his familiar green plastic lighter that lit the end of the bud up. He inhaled puckering his lips out as his cheeks concave in. The embers on the cigarette glowed for a short time until he pulled the roll out of his lips and craned his neck to the black night sky, exhaling a cloud of smoke that dissipates into the air, “Didn’t wanna tell Aunty I was in need of a nicotine fix.” 

Wonwoo snorted, “If you’re too ashamed to talk about it, you shouldn’t be doing it.” 

Mingyu shook his head and shoved his right hand into his pocket while his cigarette hung in the middle and pointer fingers of his left, “It’s not that I’m ashamed. Its just, first impressions and all.” He looked over to Wonwoo smiling as the other narrowed his eyes at him. 

“You know,” the shorter one started, “Aunty is married, right?” Mingyu seemed to like to flirt in general, but Wonwoo noticed he was giving Aunty Song a lot of attention tonight. He’s heard that some men were into older women, so who was he to judge. Yet Wonwoo knew he would  _ absolutely  _ judge the younger if Mingyu said he was attracted to Aunty, so who was he kidding? 

A boisterous laugh rang through the streets of Changwon as Mingyu threw his head back laughing at the other’s ludicrous question. Wonwoo scoffed at how loud the other laughed and how his whole six foot stature animated to his rambunctious emotion. When the taller collected himself, he nodded his head and smiled down at the shorter, “Yes, Wonwoo-hyung, I’m aware that Aunty is married.” 

The subject was dropped as they neared the bus stop. This was all a familiar sight to Wonwoo. The bus stop, the smoke . . . Mingyu. He looked over to the taller man who dropped himself on the bench beneath the cover of the bus stop. Mingyu took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled looking out to the street in front of him. He stayed like that as Wonwoo watched his profile. He noticed a small mole that sat lower down the other man’s cheek, almost like a failed attempt from God who tried to convince the rest of humanity,  _ ‘See? Mingyu isn’t perfect, he’s got imperfections like everyone else!’ _

“It’s my turn to ask a question now.” Mingyu’s voice softly broke the silence that had enveloped the pair.

Wonwoo looked away as he saw Mingyu’s gaze turn towards him, “Hyung.” The older let out a soft hum of acknowledgement keeping his gaze down to his feet that were kicking at nothing in particular still getting used to the new label the younger insisted on using. 

“You lost my number didn’t you?” 

Wonwoo let a small breathy laugh escape his lips, “No.” He looked over to Mingyu who stared at him with his mouth agape, his cigarette a forgotten thought between his finger tips. 

“Hyung, why didn’t you call me? You made me look like a beggar who didn’t have any money and couldn’t pay you back.” He pouted his lips out in disappointment and threw his burnt out bud onto the pavement before smashing it into the ground. Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the sight in front of him, the huge grown-ass man next to him was pouting. 

“You  _ were  _ a beggar who didn’t have any money.” He pointed out lightheartedly. 

“Yes, but I  _ could’ve  _ paid you back,” Mingyu challenged without a second beat. He leaned back, resting his head against the glass panel that stood behind the bench they sat on. His right leg began bouncing up and down carelessly while he kept his gaze towards the older. “Had you just called me.” 

Wonwoo sighed at the incessant nagging from the other about this issue, “I didn’t call because that would be weird,” he settled on his answer.

Mingyu snorted, shoving his hand into his pants pocket slightly slouching down as his attention was now on the roof of the bus stop, “I’m pretty sure buying some random dude shit from a convenience store then forgetting it ever happened is even more weird.” His leg stopped shaking for a moment as he sat upright and looked to Wonwoo, “Especially when I went through the trouble to give you my number.” He shook his head in discontent clicking his tongue as he leaned back to his prior relaxed position, leg bouncing and all. 

Wonwoo scoffed, “Well, calling some random dude and demanding him to pay me back for shit I bought him would be awkward so . . . I just left it.” He didn’t get a response from the other, but instead was robbed of his phone that slipped out of his hands and into Mingyu’s. 

“What are you . . .” Wonwoo watched the other pull out his own phone and as he typed something into Wonwoo’s phone. Mingyu’s cell buzzed then lit up. The younger spent another minute or two fiddling with the older’s phone until he held up the device and snapped a picture. Satisfied, he handed it back to Wonwoo. The latter looked down at his screen that displayed a contact information page. The name read  _ ‘Mingyu’ _ with a strawberry emoji and the circled contact icon above the bold name was a dark picture that Mingyu took of himself at the bus stop they currently sat at. 

“There. Now I can make sure I pay you back properly.” 

Wonwoo looked over to Mingyu’s screen that also displayed a contact page but instead it had an empty icon and just a bold name that read  _ ‘Wonwoo-hyung’  _ with a cat emoji. Wonwoo frowned, “Why a cat?” He lazily moved his finger over to point at the other’s screen. Mingyu looked up from his phone to Wonwoo and shrugged. 

“No reason. You said you liked cats so that's the emoji I decided to use. Plus, no one else in my phone has a cat so it’s perfect.” Wonwoo looked up from the other’s phone to look at his face. The other was dead serious as he rambled on, “Seokmin has a pizza, Hao has a frog, Seungcheol-hyung has a lion I think . . .” He looked back to his phone to check. Wonwoo blinked at the absurdity of the other, watching Mingyu bring his thumb to his mouth to gnaw at the side of his fingernail as he concentrated on scrolling with the other thumb, “Yeah, a lion.” He held up his phone and turned his screen to Wonwoo, “See?” 

Wonwoo shook his head slightly smiling, “You’re so strange.” Mingyu just hummed absentmindedly as the older watched him mess with his phone for a while longer before shoving the device back into his pants pocket. “My turn.” The younger’s attention turned towards him waiting expectantly as Wonwoo thought about his question for a beat. “How did you know it was my birth-” 

“Hyung, isn’t that your bus?” Mingyu’s attention was drawn, not on Wonwoo, but something behind him. He pointed in the general direction as Wonwoo whipped his head to the side to see the bright lights of the bus coming towards them. He saw Mingyu stand up in his peripheral, causing him to subconsciously stand up as well. 

He turned back to the taller man starting to feel awkward in this situation. There was about a minute until the bus reached the stop. Starting a conversation would be stupid as they wouldn’t be able to finish it, but just standing here staring at . . . nothing would be even more weird. He pulled the hem of his sleeves over his hands distractedly racking his brain to find something to say. “You can go back,” he gestured with his sleeve covered fists in the general direction of the bar, “My bus is here so I’ll be fine.” 

Mingyu shook his head, “No way, if something happened to you, Aunty would kill me.” 

Wonwoo smiled astonishedly, “She is literally half your size and weight.” 

“Doesn’t mean she can’t stab me.” 

Wonwoo rolled his eyes seeing the side of the bus come into view as it slowed down coming to a complete stop in front of the two men. He slowly walked over to the front entrance of the bus with Mingyu in tow. 

Hissing, the huge vehicle lowered itself to accommodate for passengers to board easier. Wonwoo looked back at the taller man who stood a few feet back already taking out another cigarette from its box, “Um, thanks.” 

Mingyu smiled, shoving his pack of cigarettes into his pocket with his free hand then lifted up his palm towards Wonwoo leaving it in the air for a while before shoving it back into his pocket after seeing the other safely boarded the bus. 

Wonwoo dropped himself into a seat near a window that had a big hand tapping on it gently the minute he sat down. Looking over, he saw Mingyu waving his finger in the air and pointing to him. Wonwoo tilted his head. Mingyu then pointed to the handle of the window and mouthed,  _ “Open.”  _

Finally understanding what the man wanted from him, Wonwoo flipped the lock on the handle before sliding the glass panel open, ‘What?” 

“Make sure to get your skinny little butt home safe!” With that the taller man took a step back as the bus began departing. Wonwoo opted for flipping the younger off instead of screaming out the window. He watched as Mingyu smiled brightly before talking a drag of his cigarette and waving towards him. Leaning back in his seat, Wonwoo found himself smiling like an idiot on his bus ride home for the second time that week, and it’s all Kim Mingyu’s fault. 

____

His father’s car was still in the driveway. At least he won’t get a lecture tonight. That was a blessing. Wonwoo punched the four-digit code into the lock panel of his front door opening it and walking in while listening to the high beep from the panel ring through the house as he kicked his shoes off and slid into his house slippers. He took a few steps into the living room greeted by the sight of his father straightening out his tie before grabbing the black slick briefcase that was previously thrown on the arm chair. He walked towards the front door before finally seeing his oldest son, “Ah, Wonwoo,” he acknowledged which was returned with a curt nod from the younger who walked further into the house heading for the kitchen. Wonwoo could feel his father’s stare bore into him as he moved towards the refrigerator. 

“I’ll be home late. So will your mother. Make sure to put as much effort into studying as you do fooling around.” 

His cold words hung in the air as Wonwoo’s hands clutched to the handle of the stainless steel door. He kept his eyes forward away from his father until he heard the front door close. Sighing he loosed the grip on the handle finally feeling like he could relax a bit. He opened the refrigerator and scanned it’s contents before settling on a bottle of strawberry flavored milk. 

Wonwoo padded out to the living room ripping the red foil off the top of the container before slumping himself onto his couch. He took a small sip of the light pink liquid and lightly smacked his lips together tasting the sweet and smooth flavor of the drink on his tongue. Holding the bottle by it’s girth, he turned it so the front of the label was facing him. He stared at the two small strawberries that decorated the sides and the bubble letters that were as red as the fruits that were next to it. 

It was too sweet. The milk, it was too sweet. How could one drink a whole carton of this. He remembered watching Mingyu guzzle an entire bottle of this exact milk in five seconds flat leaving nothing but a drop left. Thumbing his finger over the label, he stared at the same design as the label upstairs attached to his desk drawer except it was absolved of the scratchy handwriting. 

“That’s mine.” 

Wonwoo looked up at Bohyuk who was walking towards the kitchen. He looked back at the milk in his hands, “You can have it. Too sweet,” he called back, placing the bottle on the coffee table. He heard his footsteps pause and Bokyuk clicked his tongue before the sound of shuffling became closer. 

“The hell.” Bohyuk snatched the bottle, “Don’t drink my shit if you’re not gonna finish it,” he sighed out tiredly grabbing the TV remote off the table with his free hand. Wonwoo felt the couch dip as his younger brother dumped all his weight into the cushions propping his feet on the coffee table. Bokhyuk surfed through various channels before settling on some anime. 

“How was school?” The older questioned knowing very well the probability that his brother actually went to school was very low. Unsurprisingly, he was ignored by the other. Wonwoo scoffed to himself rolling his eyes picking at his nails casually, “Did you eat dinner?” 

The younger grunted out an acknowledgement folding his arms across his chest slouching lower into the couch. Stretching out his legs, Wonwoo tightened his shoulder blades only to release them and deflate his torso into a slouch. He stared at the TV screen as the characters ran flying their arms behind their backs jumping across tree limbs in a forest. Getting up, he just realized how tired he really was. “Don’t forget to wash your dishes. Mom’ll get on your case if not,” he shuffled towards the hallway before he stopped turning towards his brother, “Jeonbok, get your ass to school tomorrow. Stop skipping.” 

Bohyuk groaned audibly, “Stop calling me that, I’m not a fucking abalone. I’ll do what I want.” He weakly threw a couch pillow towards his brother, but missed his target as the older was already racing up the stairs. 

Wonwoo sat at his desk finishing up more of his paper, when he heard the sink water running and a few dishes clanking around downstairs. Smiling to himself, Wonwoo decided to call it a night and finish the rest tomorrow after the literature field trip to the publishing company. He turned his desk lamp off before gazing down at the milk label stuck to his desk. Ripping the adhesive off the wooden drawer, Wonwoo crumpled the plastic label in his hands and dumbed it into the trash can. He figured he wouldn’t need it anymore since Mingyu didn’t give him a choice but to add his number in his phone. 

“Night.” 

Wonwoo looked over to see Bohyuk standing outside his door. He smiled, “Going to bed so early?” 

The younger boy rolled his eyes, “Man, shuddup. My anime got boring.” 

Wonwoo laughed, “Oh, okay well, goodnight. Get some rest before your big day at school tomorrow. What is this, your third day attending?” 

Bohyuk flipped him off, “Fuck you. I ain’t going tomorrow.” With that, he stomped off down the hallway to his bedroom. 

Wonwoo let out a breathy laugh before getting ready for bed as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for my twin, Jay! Eat your spinach boo!


	9. The Field Trip

“If you need your visitor’s pass, please head over to Minna, if you need a brochure, please see Seokmin. If you haven’t signed-in yet, please go over to Wonwoo!” Jeonghan’s voice carried over the bustle of the students gathered around the entrance of the huge publishing building. Currently, there were three clusters of students, one around Minna who passed out plastic visitor’s passes attached to blue lanyards, another around Seokmin who handed out neatly folded brochures to each person, and the last group, the biggest group, was surrounding Wonwoo, who held a clipboard full of names he had never seen before, slowly checking them in.

As informed at the orientation, students in the literature department were offered the opportunity to visit the most renowned publishing company in Changwon -- Kim Publishing Company, or KPC as it was commonly called. With its gleaming glass walls that reflected the shine of the sun and its towering height that stood 56 floors tall, drawing attention away from the surrounding mundane buildings, it was always something that would catch and hold Wonwoo’s attention from the time he was a kid. 

As time passed and he started to solidify his “life plan”, Wonwoo’s inclination to visit the publishing company grew, as it was a company that could be a stepping stone to his end goal of becoming an author. Thus, instead of curled up in bed avoiding the headache of crowds and people in general, Wonwoo found himself clustered with over fifty other literature students on a Friday afternoon, curious as to what the building tour had to offer. 

Even though it was the one event of the year that piqued his interest, he wrestled with the idea of attending the planned field trip, weighing the pros and cons of going and satiating his curiosity or staying wrapped up comfortably in his bed, with a good book. Eventually, he caved into his intrigue and signed up to attend the trip. And now he found himself somehow previously coerced into helping the president and vice president of the literature department. 

He wasn’t sure how he wound up checking in unknown faces for the devious twins, but what he  _ was  _ sure of was that the other two victims that were passing out visitor passes and brochures, were doing much better than him, gracing the other students with plastered smiles and engaging in small talk. 

Wonwoo on the other hand had the biggest surrounding crowd of students that kept butting in, talking at once, and causing his stress to drastically increase. And to top it all off, some girls were addressing him like he was supposed to know them. Of course he had no idea who they were, so he had the awkward responsibility to ask for their names, only to receive a disappointed gaze and a short timid answer. 

“How’s it going over here?” Jisoo made his way over to the fumbling man, throwing an arm over his shoulder, gazing down at the clipboard Wonwoo held in his arms. 

“Terrible.” 

The older laughed, throwing up a loose fist to his lips, a habit Wonwoo had noticed the other did a lot now that he had been spending more time around the vice president.

“How about we trade,” Jisoo held up a Ziplock bag with extra visitor badges, “I lost to Jeonghan in a game and I have to take the leftover passes up to the Human Resources department.” 

Wonwoo looked down at the clipboard and then back to the clear bag Jisoo held.

“Twelfth floor. Room 1204. No crowd of twenty-plus students hovering around,” the older tempted swaying the bag in the air smiling slyly. 

Usually when it came to decision making, Wonwoo’s lazy side always won, but today was  _ a lot  _ of people and his antisocial half was fighting tooth and nail to get away from this horrible job Jeonghan had assigned him. The older man claimed it as a way for him to get more ‘familiar’ with his classmates. “Fine,” he gave in and snatched the bag out of Jisoo’s grip. 

The older laughed triumphantly grabbing the clipboard from the other smiling smugly, “This way we’ll get checked in faster and won’t spend half the field trip here at the entrance of the building.” 

Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the other man’s jab and made for the lobby of the building. It was a huge lobby with white marble flooring that matched the white painted walls with concrete accent walls, one behind the huge reception desk and the other two framing the hallway that held the elevators. Wonwoo walked through the vast space towards the elevators to make his way up to KPC’s human resources department.

Stepping out on the twelfth floor after the short elevator ride, he was greeted with two long hallways going in opposite directions. Two small plaques hanging on the wall told Wonwoo that the hallway leading right held offices 1201-1210, while the hallways leading left held offices numbered 1211-1220. Jisoo had told him the Human Resources office number was 1204, so right hallway it was. 

Wonwoo walked past three offices and finally stopped in front of room 1204. He took a peek through the small window into the office, only to find a man sitting at a desk obviously in a meeting with a woman. It definitely didn’t look like Human Resources. He looked at the wooden plate hung to the side of the door that read,  _ “Office 1204: Han Taehyun: Director of IT”.  _ Wonwoo looked around to the office across the hall from where he stood. He read the wooden plate.  _ “Office 1203: Kang Jungin: Senior Director of Relations”.  _

Where the hell was Human Resources? Wonwoo walked back towards the elevator reading the different plaques of each office. None of these offices related to Human Resources at all and a small bubbling of panic was starting to build. Before he could dwell on the increase of anxiety and the future threats he would be sending to Jisoo for giving him wrong information, Wonwoo felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Hoping it was the senior giving him the right room number, because obviously he didn’t the first time, Wonwoo unlocked his phone to read the message. 

**Mingyu🍓:**

**_What are u doing right now??_ **

Wonwoo frowned. Mingyu was definitely the last person he expected to text him right now. 

**Wonwoo:**

**_I’m busy. Text you later._ **

Before he could dial Jisoo’s number to verify if he was on the right floor, the other responded quickly. 

**Mingyu🍓:**

**_Busy getting lost?_ ** **😂**

Wonwoo stared at the text. How the hell did this guy just  _ know _ everything? He heard a whistle from behind him and turned to see a tall familiar man walking toward him. Wonwoo scoffed in disbelief. This guy was seriously  _ everywhere. _

“Are you stalking me?” Mingyu called down the hall, a small smirk gracing his face.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes at the other, he should be the one asking that. “You’re kidding me right?” Wonwoo kept the other’s gaze, “There is absolutely no reason you should be here. You’re the one stalking me,” he retorted as the younger casually walked closer. 

Mingyu smiled and gestured nonchalantly behind him, “My dad works here.” 

Wonwoo looked towards all the offices that belonged to department heads and directors, “You’re dad must be some high up director. Makes sense,” he gestured to Mingyu’s body, “you’re a spoiled brat,” he joked lightheartedly. 

Mingyu laughed, “Yeah, he's something like that. What about you?”

Wonwoo sighed. If his dad worked here, then Mingyu probably knew the place and could potentially point him in the right direction, “I’m on a field trip and-“ 

Mingyu laughed fondly, causing an abrupt stop to the other’s explanation. 

“What?” 

Mingyu shook his head innocently as he looked at the older man with eyes that reflected a playful glint in them. Wonwoo kept his gaze until the taller man gave in, “I just find it adorable how you’re on a school field trip and you’re standing here all lost and confused.” 

Wonwoo narrowed his eyes at Mingyu warningly, but it only seemed to make the other smile more. 

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Mingyu bit back a laugh, “Please, continue.” 

Wonwoo sighed and held up the Ziplock bag full of visitor passes, “Be helpful and help me find the Human Resources office.” 

Mingyu regarded the clear plastic bag then looked at the man holding it, “You’re on the wrong floor.” 

Wonwoo rolled his eyes and dropped the hand that held the bag down to his side. “Yes Mingyu, I am aware of that. That’s why I’m asking for directions.” 

The taller man laughed and nodded his head, “Alright, it’s the twenty-first floor.” Mingyu turned his body to begin walking towards the elevators, craning his neck to look back, making sure the other was following him. 

“That’s the first time you said my name in conversation.” 

They made it to the elevators and the younger man reached over to press the “Up” button. Wonwoo looked up at the man standing next to him, ‘What?” 

“It’s the first time you said ‘Mingyu’.” The taller one looked down at Wonwoo and pointed to himself, “That’s my name.”

Wonwoo bit back a smile and instead settled for an exasperated sigh, “I know what your name is, Kim Mingyu.” 

A high pitched ‘ding’ rang out through the empty hallway as the stainless steel metal doors slid open to reveal an empty compartment space. Wonwoo walked in first followed by Mingyu who pressed the small round button with the number 21 on it. “But you never actually called me ‘Mingyu’ before. You would kinda just look at me until I acknowledged you.” 

Wonwoo sighed, “Well, I never had occasion to call you Mingyu.” 

Mingyu hummed and thought for a second, leaning against the handrails in the elevator, “When we were having drinks . . . ‘Wow, that’s a funny story,  _ Mingyu’.” _ The other continued to give examples of how the other man could’ve used his name in conversation, “At the bus stop . . . ‘Oh man  _ Mingyu _ , you really are the best for making sure my skinny butt doesn’t get taken’.” 

Wonwoo poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, holding back a smile while the other continued, “‘Hey  _ Mingyu,  _ you look really handsome today!’ ‘ _ Mingyu,  _ can you help me find Human Resources?’ ‘You don’t match strawberries,  _ Mingyu,  _ I think you match chocolate.’ ‘Hey, sorry for not calling you back’ . . . _ ” _ There was a dramatic pause, “. . . ‘ _ Mingyu.’”  _ He finished off, looking at Wonwoo playfully. 

The metal doors opened to the twenty-first floor, revealing a similar looking hallway as the previous floor he was on. Mingyu walked out first followed by Wonwoo who shook his head smiling at the ridiculous antics of the other, “Are you done . . . Mingyu?” 

A smile spread across the younger man’s face as he made his way to the first office door that was located to the left of the elevators, “I dunno, Wonwoo-hyung. Are you admitting that you had many occasions?” He stopped in front of the first office and held open the door for Wonwoo.

The older man rolled his eyes looking up at the playful man, “Fine Mingyu, I admit it. I had many occasions to say your name, Mingyu. Are you happy now, Mingyu?” Wonwoo smiled smugly at the taller one as he entered the office that was labeled boldly, “Human Resources”. 

Before Wonwoo even made it to the front desk where he could finally return the damn bag of extra visitor badges, a middle aged lady who sat behind the reception desk lifted her head, a bright smile appearing on her face, but it was directed behind him. 

“Mingyu! How are you?”

Of course she knew him. Apparently everyone knew this kid. 

Wonwoo scoffed and turned to look back at Mingyu, “Geeze, aren’t you popular,” he directed at the younger man. 

“As he should be,” answered the receptionist, regaining Wonwoo’s attention while gesturing towards Mingyu, “He is the CEO’s son and heir to this company.” 

Wonwoo’s head whipped around to stare at the taller man, who only scratched the back of his neck hesitantly. As the days kept passing, it seemed he unintentionally kept learning more and more about this stranger named Kim Mingyu...the man that he thought he would only meet once, but has somehow ended up locking gazes with once again, dark eyes meeting his own and a charming grin adorning his face. 


	10. An Interruption

After handing the extra visitors badges over and enduring the small talk between himself, the receptionist and Mingyu, Wonwoo and his taller company headed back towards the elevator. 

Peeking over quickly to the other that walked silently beside him, Wonwoo swung his arms slightly, fingertips brushing the sides of his jeans every now and then. 

“Kim Mingyu,” Wonwoo stated, breaking the silence, “As in, son of the CEO of Kim Publishing Corporation, Kim Mingyu.” 

The taller man who walked beside him nodded. “Yup. We even have the same last name. Pretty cool, huh,” he joked lightheartedly. 

Wonwoo bit back a smile, rolling his eyes. “You know, for someone who talks so much, you would think one would mention that their father was one of the richest men in Changwon.” 

They made their way over to the elevators as Mingyu shrugged nonchalantly. “You never asked.” 

The older man scoffed in disbelief, his mouth gaping. Before he could say anything back, the silver doors of the elevator slid open, revealing the president of the Literature Department. Jeonghan looked up, meeting Wonwoo’s surprised face. 

“Ah! Wonwoo there you are.” Grabbing the man that he addressed, Jeonghan pulled Wonwoo into the elevator, the younger of the two slightly stumbling over at the unexpected force. The senior steadied Wonwoo, hands on his shoulders. “Shua said he might have given you the wrong directions and-” 

“Oh, Jeonghan-hyung?” the older senior was interrupted by Mingyu’s questioning voice, “What are you doing here?”

Jeonghan quickly shifted his attention to the taller of the two men in front of him that still stood outside of the open silver doors, a hand placed on the side of the elevator to keep the doors from shutting. 

“Mingyu! I didn’t know you would be here today. I thought you only shadow your father on Mondays and Wednesdays?” 

Mingyu shrugged. “He wanted me to be here for some meeting. I don’t really know. Is Cheol-hyung here today?” 

The brunette man shook his head. “No, he interns Tuesdays to Thursdays now. He has a heavier school load this semester, so he had to shorten his intern hours.” 

“Ah, I see.” Mingyu shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. “Damn, he was telling me the other night how demanding classes have been. I didn’t know he changed his intern hours too.” 

Wonwoo watched quietly as the two exchanged light conversation. This damn kid knew everybody didn’t he? 

“Yeah, well, I think he’s gonna be okay. He talked to your dad, and it seemed to be better this way,” Jeonghan reassured before gesturing behind him. “Are you going down too?” 

Mingyu nodded as Jeonghan stepped to the side, allowing the younger man room to enter the elevator, a slim finger pushing the lobby button. 

Wonwoo, who stood closest to the panel of buttons, took a small step back as the taller man leaned over from the side to press another button. “I have to go back to the twelfth floor,” Mingyu softly announced, brown eyes meeting Wonwoo’s own, a small smile gracing the younger man’s lips. Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Wonwoo broke the short lived eye contact and looked up to stare at the red, lighted numbers that counted down the floors the elevator passed. 

The twelfth floor came soon enough and with a small wave to both boys, Mingyu stepped out of the elevator, putting up a hand to hold the doors from closing too soon. 

“It was nice seeing you Jeonghan-hyung. Tell Cheol-hyung I said hi, yeah?” Mingyu turned his gaze to meet Wonwoo’s. “It was nice seeing you too Wonwoo-hyung. Don’t get lost on your way down, okay? If you do, you can always text me.” A playful smirk found its way on the other’s face and Wonwoo scoffed, a small smile escaping his lips. 

“I think I can handle finding my way back, Mingyu. Thanks for your help Mingyu. Have fun with your CEO dad, Mingyu.” Wonwoo smugly smiled, pushing the other’s hand off from holding the elevator doors. “Bye Mingyu.” As the elevator doors slid shut, the younger’s laughter could be heard resonating through the quiet hallway. 

Wonwoo leaned against the elevator railings once the lift started its descent once again. 

“So that is how Jeon Wonwoo flirts…wow. I wish I got it on camera! Shua will never believe me. Or if we could go back up and we can reenact that same scene...this time I will be totally ready.” Jeonghan playfully took out his phone from his back pocket and slightly reached over, as if to press the twelfth floor button again. 

Swatting his senior’s hand away from the elevator button panel, Wonwoo rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Hyung. And anyways, I can’t believe Jisoo-hyung gave me the wrong directions. Do you both even know what you are doing as president and vice president?” 

Jeonghan’s lips fell into a pout, crossing his arms over his chest, “Of course we know what we are doing. We are working our asses off everyday to make this year’s Lit department activities educational yet fun. ‘Do we even know what we are doing’...aish.” The last part was mimicked in Wonwoo’s lower voice, as Jeonghan finished his rant. 

Wonwoo looked over to the other, a bit apologetic. He wouldn’t ever admit it to the two, but Jeonghan and Jisoo really made a great team. The way they seemed to read each other’s mind, bounce ideas off of each other until they agreed upon one thing, and continuously put time and effort into making interesting events for the Literature Department, showed their dedication towards their leadership roles. Wonwoo admired the two for stepping up and working as the president and vice president. 

“And don’t even complain. Big, strong Mingyu was there to save your lost ass. In the end, it was a win-win!” Jeonghan playfully poked the younger one in the chest.

Wonwoo sighed, ignoring the other and stepped out of the elevator, back to the lobby where the other Lit major students were still meandering about. Jeonghan only knowingly smirked, following suit. 

____

“This floor is mainly where staff meet and discuss finalizing the publication of a book. We’ve seen the editors in action, toured around the sales department, met a few managers and this is where they all come together to discuss the details of getting the book out onto the shelves.”

The tour guide that had kindly taken time out of her busy schedule to show the college students around, allowed the guests to gather in a huge conference room and continued to explain the process of finalizing the publication of a novel. 

Wonwoo hung onto every word the lady said, every detail grabbing his attention and eliciting a new spark of determination and aspiration into his plan of becoming an author. 

“Are there internships here? And if so, when do applications open?” Wonwoo glanced over to one of the many nameless faces of his classmates who had asked the questions and nodded, also wanting to know the answer. 

Before he could hear the tour guide’s response, the vibration of his phone drew his attention away from the conversation. Slipping his hand into his back pocket, Wonwoo pulled out his phone, quickly checking the caller ID. 

A weary look crossed Wonwoo’s face as he removed himself from the discussion, quietly exiting the conference room. Accepting the call, he ran a hand through his hair, bringing the phone up to his ear. 

“Hello, this is Changwon High School’s front office, may I please speak to Jeon Wonwoo?” 

Wonwoo sighed and looked back at the group of students through the window, making eye contact with Jeonghan who nodded understandingly. “Yes, this is he.” 

“Wonwoo-ssi, this is Changwon High School calling in regards to Jeon Bohyuk.” The lady’s voice on the other line sounded dead and bored as if she had to make thousands of these calls, and Wonwoo swore he could hear her chewing gum.

Letting out a heavy breath and pinching the bridge of his nose, Wonwoo clicked his tongue. “What happened this time?” 

He heard the lady shuffling papers around before speaking. “Bohyuk has been suspended from school for the next seven consecutive school days due to consistent violent misbehavior as well as being a disturbance during class hours.”

Wonwoo looked over to see Jeonghan making his way over to where he stood outside the glass conference room as he continued to listen to the lady’s monotonous instructions on the other end of the line, “We will need his guardian to come and pick him up as well as sign a few documents understanding the release of the student as well as the terms of the suspension.”

Wonwoo sighed, feeling a slight headache come on as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Um, okay. I can be there in about a half an hour.” 

“Understood. Thank you for your time Wonwoo-ssi.” 

“Yes, thank you.” Wonwoo waited to hear the other line hang up before he ended the call as well. He stared at the contact, ‘Changwon High School’, thinking how sad it was he had the number saved in his phone because of how frequently they called. 

“Is everything okay?” A gentle voice along with a soft hand placed on his shoulder blade, broke his thoughts. 

Wonwoo looked over to Jeonghan nodding. “Uh, yeah. I’m gonna have to leave early, though.” 

Jeonghan eyed the younger man worriedly,.“You sure everything’s okay?” He knew that Wonwoo was pretty excited about this field trip, well, as excited as the man would allow himself to show. So leaving early seemed a bit odd to Jeonghan. 

The younger man nodded reassuringly. “Mn. It’s just my brother’s school.” He gestured over his shoulder with his phone in hand. “They need me to pick him up.” 

Jeonghan knew Wonwoo wasn’t going to give him anymore than that, so he decided to leave the younger be, giving a reassuring smile to the other man. “Mn. Okay, I will let the other’s know. Did you want me to walk you out?”

Wonwoo waved his hand in front of his face dismissively. “No, no. It’s okay, I think I can find my way out.” 

Jeonghan placed a hand on his hip and gave a skeptical look. “Says the boy who got lost returning the visitor passes.” 

“Hyung,” Wonwoo let out, ready to explain how that wasn’t his fault, but was interrupted by Jeonghan’s playful laugh. 

“I know, I know,” he waved off, “Get going, then.” 

With a reassuring pat on his shoulder from the older man, Wonwoo smiled and slightly bowed before heading out to the main hallway. 

Stepping into an empty elevator, Wonwoo looked at his phone to see the time as he mentally planned out the best route to Bohyuk’s school. He could catch the bus, it would be cheaper than a cab. Yet, a cab would get him there much faster than the bus. Wonwoo sighed, shoving the phone back in his pocket just as the metal sliding doors opened. 

He made his way into the lobby and towards the front doors, when his eyes caught Mingyu standing with an older man. He figured he was the father of the younger man, the CEO of Kim Publishing. Wonwoo turned to continue his way out of the building, but when he caught a glimpse of Mingyu’s face, he stopped. 

Wonwoo wouldn’t say he exactly  _ knew _ the man, but to see that playful glint and haughty smile he had gotten used to replaced with a dark somber glare and agitated frown, it caught him off guard. He didn’t really understand  _ why _ it concerned him, or why it even  _ bothered  _ him, but something about the scene was all too familiar. 

Brown orbs connected with his gaze, and Wonwoo found he was blatantly staring at the two men across the room. For a short second, the old Mingyu came back as he offered a small short-lived smile, before turning back to his father with a cold expression. Wonwoo averted his gaze and pulled his phone out of his pocket, deciding on calling a cab instead of catching the bus.

“Wonwoo-hyung!” 

Wonwoo’s fingers grazed the call button before he heard the familiar voice echoing through the lobby. He looked up to see Mingyu making his way towards him, while his father’s eyes watched Wonwoo with an unreadable expression. 

Mingyu smiled brightly scratching the back of his head. “Thanks for waiting, shall we go?” 

“I--” Wonwoo’s eyes flickered between Mingyu and the older Kim across the room. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Mingyu stared at him for a moment and smiled. “Thank you,” he mouthed out silently. 

Wonwoo bit his bottom lip, nodding. Mingyu waited for him to start walking ahead, before shoving his hands in his pockets and following behind. 

They made their way out of the building when Mingyu turned towards Wonwoo, slightly frowning. “Wait, is your field trip done?” 

Wonwoo shook his head. “No. I have to pick up my brother from school. He--uh, he got suspended so . . .” 

Mingyu nodded his head nonchalantly. “M’kay. Well, it’s not that far.” He cocked his head in the direction of the parking garage. “I’ll drive you.” 

Wonwoo was about to argue that he was calling a cab, but Mingyu was already making his way towards the parking lot. Looking at his phone that had the cab company’s number displayed on the screen then back at the retreating Mingyu, he figured he might as well take advantage of this opportunity. Plus, knowing Mingyu-- for the short time he knew the younger man-- he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Wonwoo sighed, shoving his phone in his back pocket before walking over to catch up with the taller man. 

Two small beeps echoed through the vast parking garage as the orange tail-lights of a dark grey high-end SUV flickered. Mingyu walked towards the passengers side with Wonwoo in tow, opening the door. The older man peeked over a tall shoulder to see the seat and floor cluttered with various things. 

“Sorry.” Mingyu grabbed a black gym bag off the seat as well as his sneakers and a towel off the car floor. “I have all my shit in here. Hold on a second.” His voice was strained as he reached over the seat to throw his bag and other crap in the back seat. Satisfied, Mingyu turned around holding the door open for the other with a smile.

Wonwoo ducked his head, mumbling small words of gratitude before sliding himself into the dark leather seat. It was only when he had successfully buckled himself in and sat in the short silence waiting for Mingyu to get in the car that he started to feel how awkward this was. He pulled his jacket sleeves over his palms regretting ever agreeing to let the younger man drive him. 

All thoughts were short lived as Mingyu settled himself into the car before fumbling with his keys and starting the ignition. He attempted to pull his seatbelt forward but found it was stuck. Wonwoo watched in amusement as the younger man tugged a few more times before noticing it had gotten caught between the door. 

“Fuckin’ hell,” Mingyu softly let out in mild annoyance before opening his door, pulling the seatbelt and buckling himself in. He let the door freely slam shut, and threw his head back on the headrest, puffing out an exasperated sigh. Brown orbs glanced over to see a small smile grazing the lips of the other who sat in the passenger's seat next to him. 

“You good?” Wonwoo teased, watching a grin form on the younger man’s face. 

Mingyu pursed his lips nodding, “Yeah, I’m great.” He let out a last huff of air before releasing the emergency brake and shifting his car into reverse. Wonwoo was caught off guard by a long arm thrown around his seat as Mingyu’s face got closer. The younger man’s head was turned to face the rear window of his car as the other hand maneuvered the steering wheel, slowly backing out of the stall.

Wonwoo stiffened as he pulled his attention to the screen on the dashboard. “You know you have a back-up camera, right?” 

Mingyu let go of the passenger’s seat facing the front windshield as he shifted into drive. His eyes flicked to the screen. “Yeah, I don’t use that.” 

“Why?” 

“Uh, I dunno.” Mingyu shrugged. “I learned on a car that didn’t have one of those, so I guess I’m kinda used to backing out the old fashioned way.” 

Wonwoo let out a soft snort. “Isn’t your dad loaded? He didn’t have a car that had a back up camera?” 

Mingyu laughed. “Oh, I’m sure he did. He didn’t teach me to drive, though. My grandma did.” 

The older man bit his bottom lip, humming to himself as he pulled on his sleeves bunching the fabric up in his fists. The car pulled out of the parking garage, and a comfortable silence fell upon the two. Wonwoo looked out of the window, watching as they drove past the tall, glass KPC building. 

“Changwon High School, right?” 

Wonwoo turned his head to look at the man driving, nodding his head. “Yeah. It’s kinda out of the way from here, though. I could’ve taken the bus.” 

Mingyu shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. Minseo goes there, and I pick her up from school sometimes. It’s not that far.” He looked over to Wonwoo giving a reassuring smile. 

Wonwoo gave a small nod of gratitude. “Minseo is you sister, right?” 

Mingyu smiled, his eyes watching the road in front of him. “Yeah, she’s my baby sister. The spoiled one in the family, but honestly it’s because she’s the best behaved child.” 

Wonwoo found himself smiling at the fondness in the younger man’s tone when talking about his younger sister, even if it was a brief remark. “I have no doubt she behaves better than you.” 

A small laugh came from the younger man. “Well, she’s kind of a prude. Class president, top student in her grade, she even attends cram school.” 

Wonwoo scoffed. “That doesn't make her a  _ prude _ . It just means she has ambitions. Something I wish Bohyuk had a fraction of.” 

Mingyu cocked an eyebrow, glancing over at the older man who fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “So I take it your brother is the delinquent in your family?” 

Wonwoo smiled. “You’re driving me in the middle of a weekday, to pick my stupid brother’s ass up from school because he got suspended. I don’t think it was a very hard case to crack,  _ Mingyu _ .” 

“I dunno,  _ Wonwoo-hyung _ . You could be hiding a totally different persona behind that cute, shy, slightly awkward act.” Wonwoo tried not to focus on the fact that Mingyu just called him cute, while the younger man focused on merging lanes before continuing, “Who knows, maybe you go to clubs and stay out late partying and drinking.” 

Wonwoo laughed at the ridiculous comment of the other, “Oh, yeah. I am such a . . .” He threw his sweater covered hands up trying to rack his brain for the right word, “ . . . party animal,” he settled for. Jeez, even that was an awkward statement. He bit his lip, holding back another laugh at the thought of himself going to clubs. 

Mingyu seemed to be holding back a smile as well, “I mean, you  _ did _ dance on a table once, so I don’t know . . .” He feigned disbelief as the last part of his sentence was let out in a sing-song tone. 

Wonwoo gave a half-hearted glare. “Mingyu?” 

“Hm?” The younger looked over to him, his cheekbones sitting high on his cheeks as he attempted to keep a smile in. 

“Drive.” 

Mingyu let out a boisterous laugh at the older man’s command, but nodded his head anyways continuing to watch the road as the rest of the drive was filled with comfortable idle conversations. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chappie is dedicated to bboobbyo17! Thanks for waiting for patiently and commenting! I really appreciate it!   
> Let me know what you all think! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/rosequartstudy) and check out other works there too!


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